ART CORE

My name is Athlone Clarke and I was born in Jamaica in 1956. I immigrated to the United States in 1985 and have since been involved in the local art movement on various levels. During the mid 80's I made my living as a published free-lance writer. I also painted during this period and took part in several south eastern shows. In the years that followed my writing established a relationship with my visual work and eventually gave birth to a colorful, mixed media off-spring. My work is commonly described as conversational, documental, interactive and even confrontational. The latter description comes from the fact that I have never backed away from the interpreting lightening rod issues such as race, gender, civil rights, politics and even religion. Nonetheless, I strive to make my work truthful, relevant, inclusive, educational, and uplifting. I'm a strong believer that great art should not be accessible to just the powerful, the rich, and the intellectual elite, but also to the ordinary blue collar person who may crave the enrichment that art is known to provide. The language of art does not always have to be cloaked in professorial codes that are cleverly hidden in intimidating abstractions, nor does it always have to be safe and comfortable. I thrive on experimentation and am a firm believer that there is no “have to” in art. I believe that my work should be capable of provoking emotions, positive or not, and that cold indifference is poison. My mixed media journey allows for a rich amalgam of found objects that seem to have chosen me to interpret their stories, in as much as I have chosen them. Hopefully, my work will stand on it’s own, and consequently, more eloquent than anything else I could say about myself. Thank you for your interest in the work. One Love