Sean Gerard Clark

Sean Gerard Clark is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee who has lived and worked in New Orleans for the past ten years. Before coming to New Orleans, Sean graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelors of Science in Biology with a concentration in Public Health and African-American Studies. Sean has always found art as a tool for navigating life throughout his work and academic career.Sean’s artistic voice began in childhood, however his active art voice began when he started painting to cope with the stress of school. He began his artistic practice as a landscape painter and over the years has transitioned into a variety of subjects that investigate the human condition.  Sean is a self-taught artist who favors the use of palette knives, oil and acrylic paints, and collage materials. In 2018 Sean was featured as a solo artist during From Africa to Appalachia Foundation’s 30th Anniversary show titled, “Ancestors”. Sean’s mixed media piece, “Unresolved Grief” was featured in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative as a part of the organization's efforts to increase emotional awareness of mental health issues. Sean recently participated in Young Contemporary Collectors juried exhibition in Memphis, TN. Coupled with his time as a health educator, he has led several art classes that focus on helping students find their own creative voice through journal and mask making. Throughout his artistic career he has been influenced by artist such as Sammie Nicely, Jean Michel Basquiat, Benny Andrews and Bill Sienkiwicz along with writers such as James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison. From this point of inspiration, Sean has created works to reflect identity and history, while sparking ideas in the minds of viewers. Sean is the juried selected winner of the And Now for Something New Vol. 3 show at LeMieux Gallery and the 2021 Harpo Fellowship Emerging Artist recipient at the Santa Fe Art Institute.

Residency

Joan Mitchell Center- New Orleans, LA September 2019- January 2020

Stoveworks Residency- Chattanooga, TN November 2020- January 2021

Santa Fe Art Institute- Emerging Artist Residency Fall 2021

Awards

New Orleans Art Association $500 cash prize for figurative drawing at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts Student Exhibition.

Fletcher Exhibit at the Reece Museum: Black Lives Matter Award for, “What’s Your Emergen-C?”

And Now For Something New Vol. 3 Juror Selected Winner

Exhibitions

2024

Individuals, Second Story Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Inside Blackness, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN

I’ve Been Here Before, Sybil Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Sing for Hope(Public Piano), New Orleans Jazz Museum, New Orleans, LA

The Soul of Philanthropy, TEP Center, New Orleans, LA

2023

And I Shall Still Be Lonely, Stoveworks, Chattanooga, TN

Come As You Are, Old No. 77 Hotel, New Orleans, LA

Along the Way, Lemieux Gallery, New Orleans,LA (Solo)

Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LA

2022

Decompose_/ˌdēkəmˈpōz/, Arts and Literature Laboratory, Madison, WI (solo)

2021

Art Fields 2021, The Elegant Bee Gallery, Lake City, SC

Unraveled and Unstructured, Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI

Complex Reflections, Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA

And Now for Something New, Vol. 3. LeMieux Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Scale Workspace, New Orleans, LA

MAAFA, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, New Orleans, LA

Hello Stranger, Staple Goods, New Orleans, LA (Solo)

The Creative Process, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA(Solo)

2020

Hot Donuts, Stoveworks, Chattanooga, TN

Black Diaspora: From Africa to Appalachia, Reclaiming History, Memory, and Place, Slocumb Galleries, Tipton Gallery, Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 

No Name in The Street, The Front, New Orleans, LA

Fletcher Exhibit, Reece Museum at Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

2019

Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA

We  Wear the Mask(Solo Show), 912 Julia St, New Orleans, LA

Momento Mori, New Orleans Healing Center, New Orleans,LA

Fletcher Exhibit, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

African American & Latin American Artist, 3014 Level Artist Collective, New Orleans, LA

2018

Ancestors, Rose Center(Solo Show), Morristown, TN

Young Collectors Contemporary, Crosstown Concourse, Memphis, TN

Fletcher Exhibit, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Politico PopUp 3, Gallery 3116, New Orleans, LA

20th Annual MLK Jr. Commemorative Art Exhibition, Ashe Powerhouse, New Orleans, LA

Black History Exhibit: Modern Day Paris Exposition, AVA, Chattanooga, TN

The Rent is Too Damn High, Crescent City Boxing Gym, New Orleans, LA

Harvard Advanced Leadership Institute, Cambridge, MA

Seen/Unseen, The Artisan Cafe, New Orleans, LA

2017

Alien vs Predator, New Orleans Art Center, New Orleans, LA

Inaugural MAAFA: Roho ya Babu, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, New Orleans, LA

Masterpeace, Whereyart Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Perspectives, The Tigermen Den, New Orleans, LA

Art Crush I&II, Whereyart Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Deep South by Suroeste: Better Must Come, Exchange Center Gallery, New Orleans, LA

We Are Not Rising (Wetlands Art Tour), The Tigermen Den, New Orleans, LA

Meeting Notes: The Subconscious Mask, Skewer Gallery, New Orleans, LA

19th Annual Dr. MLK Jr. Art Exhibit, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, New Orleans, LA

2016

Politico PopUp 2, New Orleans Art Center, New Orleans, LA

New Orleans Loving Day MIXED MESSAGES.6, N.O. Art Council Gallery , New Orleans, LA

Prism PopUp Gallery, Grandfalloon, Chattanooga, TN

2015

New Orleans Loving Day MIXED MESSAGES.5, Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Politico PopUp, New Orleans Art Center, New Orleans, LA

Artist Inc Presents, Steven Martin Fine Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA

Collections

Tulane Innovation Institute, New Orleans, LA

Tulane Center for Academic Equity, New Orleans, LA

Ochsner St. Tammany Cancer Center, Covington, LA

Ashe Cultural Art Center, New Orleans, LA