ABOUT
UNSEEN, not because we literally cannot be seen, but because we are not seen for who we really are. We being Black people in America.
American media is saturated with false narratives and imagery which has created false perceptions of Blackness, leading to the degradation and dehumanization of Black people.
Ironically, this body of work was created as I saw myself in someone else on television. As I watched the murder of a Black man, a father, a brother, and a son, I saw myself and couldn’t help but think…That could be me.
Clarence Heyward
Now On View in the Main Gallery
BIO
Clarence Heyward (American, b.1983) was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is a painter and collagist whose work explores notions of the Black American experience.
His work investigates cultural truths, challenges stereotypes, and questions identity. Clarence believes it’s important to “paint his truth” and uses persons of color as subjects in his work as homage to his culture.
Beginning his journey as a full-time artist in 2019, he is best known for his dynamic and fresh take on figurative art. Heyward relocated to North Carolina to study Art Education at North Carolina Central University.
He has shown his work nationally and has been featured in venues including the 21c Museum of Durham, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for Cultural Arts, the Block Gallery Raleigh, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and (CAM) the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh.
Heyward was the recipient of The Brightwork Fellowship residency at Anchorlight, Raleigh in 2020, the Emerging Artist in Residence at Artspace, Raleigh in 2021 and was the 2022 Artist in Residence at NC State University. His work is in the collections of several private and public institutions. He currently lives and works in Raleigh, NC.
Exhibition
Invisible Man
Through the years, it has been common place for American media to showcase imagery of PEOPLE of COLOR being beaten and murdered. This has led to the desensitization of viewing such imagery and traumatization for said PEOPLE of COLOR. I can remember being nine years old and seeing Rodney King being beaten on television, I was terrified. That grainy old video from 1992 seems like one hundred years ago now, or perhaps something from the civil rights era.
Fast forward thirty years and those scenes have become all too common. Long gone are those old grainy videos, now we witness these scenes in high definition. And somehow our humanity remains invisible.
This painting was conceived as I witnessed the murder of George Floyd…in HD, once again feeling the terror I felt at nine years old.
2021
Acrylic on canvas
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY
2021
Acrylic and variegation leaf on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
CODE RED
2021
Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Candyland
Candyland is named after the board game in which requires no strategy, players are never required to make choices, just follow directions, and the winner is actually predetermined by the shuffle of the cards. Sounds relatively close to the design of the American society we live in today. Only when you are a person of color those cards are rarely “shuffled” in your favor. As a Black father of two beautiful girls my responsibility is to teach them how to navigate the board, dealing them the best cards possible.
2021
Acrylic and variegation leaf on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
I Prayed for You
2022
Acrylic, glitter, vinyl and gold leaf on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Sing For Me
2021
Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Death of the Unicorn
2021
Acrylic and variegation leaf on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Everything is Everything
2021
Acrylic and variegation leaf on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Proud Boy
2021
Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
Family Matters
2022
Acrylic on canvas
120″ x 72″
Courtesy of the artist
