The Canvas Speaks: Brandon Clarke’s Journey of Self-Discovery at Art Miami Week 2024
Brandon Clarke is an emerging artist in Miami who recently won numerous awards. This year’s Art Miami Week will feature Clarke’s latest creations, which continue to explore the theme of self-discovery. During 2023 Art Basel week, Clarke had an impressive showcase at SCOPE Miami, Lescouleurs Contemporary, and with Hampton Art Lovers. This year Clarke will bring new work to the art scene using unique combinations of found objects, words, color, and composition on canvas to create tension that guides the viewer towards a fundamental question: “Who are you, really?”
Brandon Clarke’s introduction to the art world was discovered in the back of his 100-year grandmother’s house where he used to paint with her as a child. Growing older Clarke knew he inherited his artistic abilities from his grandmother, deeming him as a second-generation artist. Clarke’s artist’s vision blossomed over recent years as he tapped into his inner-self, channeling his grandmother’s legacy of seeing the world through art. Although his style of painting differs from his grandmother, her painter’s hand follows Clarkes every brush stroke.
However, Clarke did not know he would need to call upon those skills to help unearth his raw emotions over the killing of George Floyd. As an African, it was the killing of Georgie Floyd that sparked Clarke’s pursuit to take his art to the next level. From that moment, he felt so many intense emotions surrounded by what the nation felt with him, the canvas became an emotional outlet. It was not until that point Clarke concluded he had something to say.
Clarke’s main concept of art explores all the dimensions of the traditional canvas structure itself. Clarke accomplishes this by juxtaposing various techniques within the backside of the canvas to expose hidden messages. In addition, Clarke’s technique and material choices express literally and metaphorically characteristics on the canvas to imply the question of, “Who are we really within the framework of our lives?”
Title: Juicy
Title: Nostalgia
Title: Transactions of A Nation
Title: Insulation
Brandon Clarke’s work is a testament to the power of art to spark awareness and encourage self-reflection. This helps his viewers see the many visual entry-points and feel at liberty to apply their own experiences to the canvases.
I often ask people, “If you were to be honest with yourself, how well are you good at hiding what you do not want people to see?” I have been living with myself for over thirty years, and found clever ways to conceal the most wounded parts of my being. It was not until I started to paint that the canvas started to expose those wounds. In the process of painting the canvas told me bold statements such as, you are not being real, or being authentic! Shocked by a canvas’s ability to speak, I thought long and hard on what that meant. It was not until I found out the more vulnerable I became, the more real I became. Thus, the more “truth-telling” I did about why I do the things I do, the more authentic I became. Through the process of painting, I have become the most authentic version of myself I have ever been, and I’m not talking physical, but mental, spiritual, relational etc. I know there are people who haven’t had the right tools to unlock who they really are. My art provides a lens to look into the lost parts of our souls, and I want to call them out to a level of authenticity as I have found for myself. There is plenty of room at the table for the real you.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the power to explore the depths of self-awareness through Brandon Clarke’s captivating paintings.
For more information about Clarke’s work, please visit brandonclarkeart.com, or on Instagram @brandonclarkeart_