$23,000

Artwork Description

Heyward's newest series of paintings is based on the Civil Rights Swim In that immediately preceded the passing of the Civil Rights Act. The 1964 Swim In included black and white protesters jumping into the whites-only pool at a hotel in St. Augustine, FL. The owner of the hotel poured acid into the pool to try to drive them away. Heyward includes the pH scale in these paintings, alluding to the measurement of danger in society. Clarence Heyward was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is a painter and collagist whose work explores notions of the Black American experience. Heyward tackles cultural truths, stereotypes, and questions identity in his work. He "paints his truth" and uses persons of color as subjects in his work as homage to his culture. Among his most prevalent subjects are members of his own family, as well as himself. His intimate knowledge of their lived experience informs his fresh and direct approach to contemporary figuration. He often uses the chromakey green color to reference the video concept of a green screen, upon which any background or reality can be superimposed. His use of chroma key in his recent paintings evokes a sense of possibility within identity, and a recognition that who we see is a function of who we are as observers. Though Clarence is brand new on the contemporary art scene, two museums have already purchased his work and offered him exhibitions–the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh, and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The Harvey Gantt Center for African American Art and Culture will exhibit his work for 2022.