Parliament Funkadelic’s George Clinton Showcases Visual Arts at Mariane Ibrahim
Rena Gross highlights George Clinton's first solo exhibition with Mariane Ibrahim, Mothership, presented in Chicago to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Parliament-Funkadelic's landmark album of the same name. The article explores Clinton's longstanding visual practice, emphasizing that, alongside his groundbreaking musical career, he has been creating paintings, collages, sculptures, and drawings since the early 1970s as extensions of his Afrofuturist vision.
Gross describes the exhibition as demonstrating that the Mothership "was more than a stage prop. It was a world unto itself," highlighting Clinton's vibrant paintings, archival materials, and the central sculptural spaceship that anchors the presentation. The article also notes the striking fact that Clinton is colorblind, yet has created a body of work defined by bold, psychedelic color, praising the exhibition for preserving "the improvisation, humor, and energy of the Mothership" while allowing it to exist as an independent artistic universe.
