RARE Black African American Modern Art Jazz Exhibition Poster MELVIN CLARK

  
This is a visually striking and RARE Black African American Modern Art Jazz Exhibition Poster, promoting the exhibition of original artworks by African American modernist painter, Melvin Clark b. 1944 at the Savacou Gallery in New York. This poster depicts Clark's expressive painting titled Horn Blower #3, a vivid and Cubist inspired rendering of a Harlem Jazz band. Enigmatic faces appear on the peripherals, while the emotion and tenacity of the musicians can be seen in their powerful facial expressions and posture. At the lower edge, this poster reads: Melvin Clark. Artexpo New York - Savacou Gallery. This piece likely dates to the late 1990's - early 2000's. Approximately 30 7/8 x 31 7/8 inches including frame. Actual visible poster is approximately 23 x 24 inches. Good condition for age and storage, with some moderate scuffing and edge wear to the wooden frame please see photos. Acquired in Los Angeles County, California.

If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! Melvin Clark was trained at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit where he was born.

Clark moved to New York in the 1980s, where he worked as a printmaker at the Lower East Side Print Shop and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. He also executed public murals for various sites in the region, including a large mosaic mural at Newark Penn Station. Much of his work focuses on jazz history and musicians, many of whom he came to know from being a regular at jazz clubs around New York in the 1980s and 1990s. Clark described the impact of jazz upon his art: I was able to see live, all the living legends of Jazz. I often use musical themes in my art. The energy of live musical performances is what I strive to capture in my compositions. His artworks are in many notable collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Modern African Arts Gallery, Amsterdam, the Printmaking Workshop, New York, the Lower East Side Printshop, New York, the Detroit Board of Education, and the Pehl Collection, Eldersburg, MD.

I work in oil paints and other paint mediums. I also have produced hand pulled limited edition prints.

Music is often a motif in my creative work. I became a serious artist later in my adult life. During my early schooling, I was often deterred from pursuing a career as a professional artist. I was warned that becoming an artist would not profit financially. My earliest art training took place in Detroit, Michigan.

I took advantage of many free neighborhood art programs available at that time before winning a scholarship to art school. In 1986, I moved to New York City where I continued my formal Arts education at Bob Blackburn's Printmakers Workshop of New York. While in New York, I saw and heard all of the living legends of Jazz Music. Music is a major motif in my art work.

As a student, I was moved by the works of the Impressionist, Expressionist, Surrealist, Futurist, Cubist, the Mexican Muralist... Melvin Clark is an artist currently living in East Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. Melvin was born 1944 in Detroit Michigan.

He began art studies in the 1970's. Initially, Clark took advantage of the community based art centers that were spread around Detroit.

Melvin's formal training took place at the prestigious "Center For Creative Studies"{now the"College For Creative Studies"}, located just accross the street from the "Detroit Institute of Arts". His exposure to major works of art in the D. By the Mexican Muralist, the Post Impressionist, the German Expressionist, the Master Craftmen of Africa, as well as his interest in the works of African-American Artist Charles White and John Biggers, helped inform and shape Melvin's mature style. In 1986, Clark was awarded a fellowship to study at Robert Blackburn's famed "Printmaking Workshope" in New York City.

The Avant Garde nature of the New York Art and Jazz scenes appealed to Melvin and his move there became permanent later that year. In 1988, he was appointed Artist-in-Residence for one year at the "Lower East Side Printshop", New York City, after receiving a New York Council on the Arts Grant.

During the late 1980's and 1990's, Clark exhibited extensively in the United States{Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York}and in Europe where the "Modern African Art Gallery" in Amsterdam represented him for many years. Clark often uses music as a motif for his creativity and became known for his paintings and prints featuring expressive and interpretive images of some of the giants of Jazz.

Clark received commissions during the 1990's to produce featured designs for posters distributed by International Jazz/Blues Festivals in Great Britain, Denmark and the United States. Among other important commissioned works is his 1996 "Enchanted Dreams and Sunbird", a permanent mosiac tile Mural installed at New York's P. Another major commission for Clark was the 1998 Mural Project For New Jersey Transit{Penn Station - Newark}. The Mural was entitled "New Spirit Ensemble" and payed homage to the rich Jazz history of Newark. His work received numerous honors in the 90's including the "Best of Show" award at the respected "Black Creativity" Exhibition held annually at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Clark's work is referenced in several scholarly and popular publications including The Art of Culture: Evolution of Visual Arts by African American Artist, The Last Fifty Years{Chicago, 2003} and Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals{San Francisco, 2003}. A monograph on Clark was published in 1991 by The Modern African Art Gallery in Amsterdam. His work is featured and illustrated in the essay, "Last of the Beboppers" by Edsel Reid, published in Vol. 15, NO 1 of the International Review of African American Art publised by Hampton University. Since 2000, Clark's work has been featured in numerous one-man and group exhibitions at venues including The National Black Fine Arts Show in New York, the Embrace Art Fair in Atlanta and at Lusenhop Fine Art Chicago{now based in Detroit}. In 2009, the South Shore Arts Gallery, the largest non-profit visual arts venue in Northwest Indiana, mounted a widely praised career retrospective of Melvin Clarks paintings and prints.

To this day, Clark continues to produce and exhibit works from his studio in the Pocono Mountain area of Pennsylvania.