On the occasion of George Clinton’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in Chicago, Mothership, the artist was joined in conversation by Mariane Ibrahim. Taking the exhibition as a point of departure, the conversation explored the enduring cultural significance of the Mothership—the iconic spacecraft that transformed Parliament-Funkadelic concerts into interstellar journeys—and its continued presence across Clinton’s music, performances, and visual art. Marking the 50th anniversary of the original Mothership, Clinton reflected on its origins, its role in bringing Afrofuturist imagination into the mainstream, and its enduring symbolism as a vehicle for imagining new worlds.
The conversation also considered Clinton’s painting practice and the ways in which rhythm, color, and suspended forms translate the psychedelic and cosmic sensibility of his music into visual language. From the vivid palette of his paintings to The Mothership (2026), the monumental sculpture created for the exhibition, Clinton discussed how fantasy, performance, and visual art converge in an evolving mythology that continues to make space for possibility, transformation, and liberation.
