Clark Medley
Instagram: clark_medley
Website: www.clarkmedley.com
Clark Medley (born 1971) in St. Louis Missouri, is an artist who currently splits his time between residences in the small town of Fairview Heights, Illinois (just outside of St. Louis, Missouri) and New Orleans’s lower 7th ward. He started his professional career as a Tattoo Artist and over the last 25 years has honed his skills in a variety of mediums. His skills include carving large scale woodcuts, sculpting, illustrating, tattooing, and painting. In the early 2000’s he attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville focusing on sculpture to expand his knowledge and skills which would further his career aspirations. By the 2010’s he began using paint in the study of dancing forms which lead to the creation of a cryptic language. After creating and refining these forms into a complete set of symbols he began to explore using the contrast of color and texture to balance and compliment the symbols in beautiful and eloquent manner. He has assembled this collection in a way that is modern and contemporary. The inspiration for this collection is rooted in his dyslexia which created difficulty reading and spelling in school. Clark’s inner spirit to triumph over adversity drove him to take his biggest weakness and turn it into his biggest strength. He paints daily but will work with any medium, his style is easily recognizable in any form.
Clark has earned many awards over the years. He loves showing his works. Showing everywhere he can, in 2019 alone he showed at the Javits center in New York for the ICFF, in Miami during Basel at Curations voice gallery. Biennale in Venice Italy at the European Cultural gallery. As well as many other shows that same year.
Sounds From The Other Room
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you:
I was traveling to china with a friend when I was playing on my ipad, playing with human forms, letting them dance in sketch form. Exaggerating them and then refining them into simple form. After some time, hours on the plane the forms began to speak to me. I became obsessed with this. I tuned the dancing forms into a language. It changed the way I look at art. Now every painting I see I also see what it would look like if I added my words to it.
What does your work aim to say:
I want my work to say I’m here, see me. I want the work to be the showcase of the gallery, Loud/bright/reflective. Even if you see it out of the corner of your eye. I want the viewer to notice it. And every painting I do if from a moment in my life, a moment from a conversation. A song. Something that inspired me, and I run with it, its instant inspiration.
Love
Can you tell us what you have going on right now:
Currently I’m working on a series that reflects the 1920’s art deco movement with the current contemporary street art movement. Juxtaposing them in a way that brings what was contemporary 100 years ago and showing how it may have evolved if it was all the rage today. I also like paying respect to the masters. Following in some of their exercises in working in series, Picasso did a 13 painting bull series where he deconstructed a bull drawing from a portrait to a simple line form. I did the same with my “A Mothers love is never forgotten” series.
Greatest achievements so far:
This one is easy. Seeing my painting at Biennale in Venice Italy changed how I thought about my work, knowing that 600,000 people would see my work at that show made be focus more on showing and not caring so much about selling. I wan my art to be seen!
Lonely Is The Soul That Outshines Their Lover
What memorable responses have you had to your work:
I don’t have a memorable response, as much as I always love watching people looking at my work from afar. They seem to know its writing, or that it has a message. Seeing them trying to figure it out always is fun to see. It starts conversations, they instantly want to know more and talk about the inspiration and how I came to this style of art.
I know my artwork is finished when:
I sign it. It’s a strange moment, all the time and thought to go into a painting, then when you get to sign it you are putting your stamp on it, literally saying I’m now done. This may be the end of the painting process but not the paintings journey. So even though its finished, there is more to be done.
I See Shadows Between The Light
What makes you angry:
People that say oh this isn’t art or that isn’t art, I see art everywhere, all around me. Everything I see, hear, eat, touch is art, and it inspires me constantly.