Edward Clark at Cinque

Art in America, Oct, 1998 by David Ebony

Edward Clark's show of recent work contained six large paintings (up to approximately 9-by-7 feet) and seven smaller canvases and works on paper. They demonstrate the artist's continuing belief in the exalted power of abstraction. Clark, along with Norman Lewis and others, was one of the few African-American pioneers of abstract painting in the early postwar period, and this exhibition, titled "From Sicily to Egypt," marks the 40th anniversary of his New York solo debut.

Born in New Orleans, Clark studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to Paris, where he stayed from 1952 to 1958. Early on he was inspired by the paintings of Nicolas de Stall and also the music of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Later he was drawn to the gestural abstractions of Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages, an influence which is still evident today. In 1958, George Sugarman persuaded Clark to return to New York to help found the Brata Gallery, along with Ronald Bladen, Al Held and others. Clark showed there for some years before returning in 1966 to France, which has remained his primary residence.

Since 1966 Clark has used a pushbroom to cover large canvases placed on the floor. The technique allows him to create gestural brushstrokes without using his wrist. The large "sweep" of the pushbroom lends certain works an epic quality, as if these were superhuman markings produced by the forces of nature itself. In a large untitled canvas from the "Egyptian Series," four arcing strokes of pink, blue, green and black emanate from each corner of the canvas toward the center, producing at their point of juncture a feeling of intense and volatile energy.

Other works are quieter in tone. In the gorgeous Dome, for instance, a wide horizontal band of cerulean blue traversing the canvas seems to drift through a beige field in which a large oval shape has been delicately etched. Like a view of a peacefully flowing river, the image is at once sensuous and serene.

While the show's title and many of the horizontal compositions suggest landscape motifs, Clark seeks a sense of pure motion and light that supersedes illusionistic or scenic concerns. In Egyptian Red, for example, the artist divides the composition horizontally, filling the upper portion with agitated brushstrokes in brilliant red, which contrast with the evenly applied brushwork below. The painting may hint at a desert sunset, but it also aims toward a harmonic synthesis of recklessness and restraint.