Sean Gerard Clark
Sean Gerard Clark is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee who has lived and worked in New Orleans for over a decade. 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. 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. At the center of his creative practice are abstract and figurative works that capture internal narratives, specifically of Black lives, Black bodies and Black family histories. His most recent works explore rest as repair, blending painting and quilting to fill the literal and historical cracks of the past, and create a softness in technique, process and product. Sean has completed multiple artist residencies which include the Joan Mitchell Center, The Santa Fe Art Institute and Stoveworks. Sean recently received his MFA from Tulane University and is currently an instructor in painting, drawing, and printmaking at Dillard University.
Interviews, Reviews and Podcast
Drawing South Podcast: A Conversation with Sean Clark
Plugged in: Sean G. Clark, Interview with #theartplug
Verite News, Government Shutdown Louisiana Nat. Parks
Artist Push Photography Across Time, The Offing Review of “I’ve Been Here Before”
Artist Spotlight: Inside the Studio of Sean Clark with Catherine Todd, WhereYart
Robinson, Kristina Kay. “DSXSO "Better Must Come" Review” 24 May 2017
Morris, Benjamin. ""Monster" at Skewer Gallery." 31 Oct. 2014.
Residency
Mellon Fellowship in Community Engaged Learning 2022-2024
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
Collections
Tulane Innovation Institute, New Orleans, LA
LCMC New Orleans East Hospital
City of New Orleans, 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
National Academy of Medicine, Washington DC (Digital Health Equity Collection
New Orleans Library (2025 Summer Tote Bag Artist)
Publications
New American Paintings,No. 160, South Issue 2022
Book cover art for, “Under the Skin”, by Linda Villarosa for Penguin-Randomhouse 2021
Awards
New Orleans Art Association, National Juried Show, Honorable Mention 2025
And Now For Something New Vol. 3 Juror Selected Winner 2021
Fletcher Exhibit at the Reece Museum: Black Lives Matter Award for, “What’s Your Emergen-C?” 2020
New Orleans Art Association $500 cash prize for figurative drawing at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts Student Exhibition 2019
Exhibitions
2025
Ephemera, Second Story Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Observer, The Front, New Orleans, LA
ReWilding, Whereyart Gallery, New Orleans, LA (solo)
Some of Us Call it Home, Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center, LA
Vantage Point, Second Story Gallery, New Orleans, LA
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