As a multidisciplinary artist, Clark melds the practical functionality of graphic design—especially shape and form—with Fine Art. The resulting permeability between disciplines pushes Clark to explore the physical boundaries of her chosen mediums with innovations in modern processes, and constant experimentation with materials. Clark grew up among the mountains in a small Idaho town and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a specialization in Graphic Design. Her works are owned by collectors around the world, have been featured in international publications, exhibited in the Smithsonian, and received multiple awards including an Award of Excellence from The Kennedy Center.
Graphic Design + Art Direction
Clark became committed to Graphic Design during her first typography class. She now specializes in photo art direction and luxury branding and packaging. Her expertise allows her to implement a brand idea in all of its elements and processes. Across her years in New York City, Clark has worked with both regional and international brands and her designs have won several awards. She looks to artists like Paula Sher and Saul Bass who brilliantly blend Fine Art and Graphic Design.
Clark approaches graphic design as a powerful form of exchange. She communicates emotion, ideas, and motivation through strategic visual arrangement. Clark likes negotiating the constraints and logic in graphic design and art direction. She finds that having a style and “rulebook”–working with limitations–demands a different set of skills than those she wields in her fine art. Graphic design forces her to deliver creative material for a specific audience, in response to expressed expectations, and on a fixed schedule.
Select Clients
West Elm | West Elm Contract | West Elm Work
Tory Burch
La Prairie
Michael Kors
Coalesse
Mark
Estee Lauder
Bath & Body Works
Marni
Coach
Steelcase
Donna Karan New York | DKNY
Mozy
Phoenix House
Pinhole Press
The Lasker Foundation
Avon
Tommy Hilfiger
Ermenegildo Zegna
New York City-based gilder M. Clark creates metallic artwork by sculpting gold, copper and silver foil. Her compositions explore how reflectivity, texture, and shape can suggest the illusion of depth and movement to creative visual conversations about emotion.
The reflectivity of her materials allows her to investigate the relationship between artwork and audience. Her pieces change depending on both the positions of the light source and the viewer, creating a dynamic, mutable experience.
She has exhibited widely in the United States with additional shows in Paris, London, and Korea. Her works are owned by collectors around the world and have been featured in international publications, as well as exhibited in the Smithsonian. She has received multiple awards including an Award of Excellence from The Kennedy Center.
Discover more at mclarkart.com and on Instagram @mclarkart
Current + Upcoming
Exhibitions
📍The River Restaurant by Gordon Ramsay, The Savoy Hotel | Russell Sage Studio, A Space For Art + Off Shoot Arts | London
📍Restaurant 1890 by Gordon Ramsay, The Savoy Hotel | Russell Sage Studio, A Space For Art + Off Shoot Arts | London
📍Dean Day Gallery | Huston, TX
📍Morton Contemporary | Philadelphia, PA
Artist Statement
I gravitate toward gold, copper, and silver foils because of their reflectivity. I love anticipating how light will reflect off of the foil on a finished piece, allowing one to see something new each time they approach the same artwork. Metal foils are timeless and substantive; they have been around for centuries. Their neutral palette allows my focus to stay on composition, texture, and light rather than color.
The innovative technique I developed to apply metal foil to 2-dimensional surfaces is derived from a printing process and is something I’ve refined over many years to create large-scale, textural, wall-mounted pieces.
My artwork is made in numerous stages across multiple months. With a general composition in mind, I produce something, then react to the first effort by altering the materials or rethinking the composition. I get into a state of flow where the medium is giving me directions for where the next stroke should go, like an intuitive logic for what elements need to be happening. The process is iterative; a compositional puzzle.
It is after a work is complete that I can evaluate the meaning behind it. I examine the composition, the dynamic and interplay between shapes, the textures in the work that are catching and reflecting the light, the headspace I was in while creating it, along with the materials I used.
As a dyslexic, written communication falls short of an adequate form of expression. It has a finality and definitive quality that is constraining. Because of this belief, my work aims to illuminate the power of non-representational communication. I'm continuously intrigued by the ways that texture, shape, and movement can be used to communicate emotion and feeling just as efficiently as concrete objects and words.
The reflectivity of my medium allows the surroundings, including the viewer, to be reflected back into the piece and become part of the work. I use this as a metaphor to show the power the viewer brings to a piece of art and how their reaction becomes part of the artwork during the time they are experiencing it.
Select Exhibitions
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
2023
Art Palm Beach | Gallery Elim | Palm Beach, FL
LA Art Show | Gallery Elim | Los Angeles, CA
2022
Rewind & Reflect | Blue Gallery | New York, NY | Curated by Amit Vaidya and Mekia Machine
2D x 3D = Boundless, NY x LA = Infinite | One Art Space | New York, NY | Curated by Grace Yeonsook Ji
K-Art | Artego | Seoul, Korea
Grogan Gallery | Houston, TX
2021
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | New York, NY
Jurors: Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator & VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
Malene Barnett, Artist, Founder of The Black Artists + Designers Guild
Lili Chopra, Executive Director at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Lolita Cros, Independent Curator
Supernova | Grogan Gallery | Huston, TX
Welcome Spring | Mazlish Gallery | Brooklyn, NY
Solo Exhibition: Collide | Color Copies Gallery | Haus Salon | Minneapolis, MN
Renewal | Mazlish Gallery | New York, NY
Solo Exhibition: Equanimity | The Yard: Bryant Park | New York, NY
2020
The Language of Color | Gallery Elim | New York, NY | Curated by Grace Yeonsook Ji
Morton Contemporary | Philadelphia, PA
Complexity | Simplicity | Arte Collective | Design Center of the Americas Dania Beach, FL
2019
Solo Exhibition: The Consistency of Chaos | Galerie Claude Samuel | Paris, France
The Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design Fair (SOFA) | Arte Collective | Chicago, IL
Art Now | Art Basel Week | Arte Collective | Miami, Fl
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | Santa Monica, CA
Jurors: Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator & VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
Souris Hong, Co-founder of Creative Cabal
Laura Hyatt, Executive Director at LAND
A. Moret, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Installation Magazine
Prolific Minds | Kontempo Contemporary | New York City, NY
Myeongdong International Art Fair | Gallery Elim | Seoul, Korea
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | Dallas, TX
Jurors: Hannah Fagadau, Co-owner at 12.26 gallery
Frankie Garcia III, Curator & Founder at FGIII Fine Art Productions
Jennifer Klos, Art Advisor & Founder at Collector House
Ree Willaford, Owner & Director at Galleri Urbane
1stdibs Design Center Gallery | New York, NY
Summer Collective | Arte Collective | Southampton, NY
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | Los Angeles, CA
Jurors: Shamim Momin, Senior Curator at Henry Art Gallery
Jennifer Lieu, Public Art Consultant
Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator & VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
Glenn Lawson, Owner of Lawson-Fenning Inc.
New York Art Center | New York, NY
Breeze | Gallery 104 | New York, NY
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | Brooklyn, NY
Jurors: Billy Gerard Frank, Founder of Nova Frontier Film Festival
Deva Pardue, Creative Director at The Wing, Rolf
Arne Leer, Founder at Quoted Magazine
Zoe Christensen, Fine Art Agent & Curator
Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator &VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
2018
The Gold Experience | Galleria Ca’ d’Oro | New York, NY
Curated by Gloria Porcella
The New Yorkers Show | Clouds Gallery | Tokyo, Japan
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | New York, NY | Spring & Fall
Jurors: Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator & VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
Liz Hopfan, Founder & Executive Director at Free Arts NYC
Steven Peterman, Co-founder & Director at Sketchbook Project
Sara Hashim, Freelance Creative Director
Mary Rozell, Global Head UBS Art Collection
Donald Johnson Montenegro, Director of the Luhring Augustine Gallery
Joey Lico, The Cultivist’s Chief Curator & Sr. Director of Programming
Joanne McNeil, Art & Technology Writer
Illuminate | Art Basel Week | Ret Dot | Miami, FL
Galleria Ca’ d’Oro | New York, NY
Curated by Gloria Porcella
Art Santa Fe | CPUSA | Santa Fe, NM
Art and Soul | Full Moon Gallery | Twin Falls, ID
2017
Aqua Art | Galleria Ca’ d’Oro | Art Basel Week | Miami, FL
Curated by Gloria Porcella
The Other Art Fair | Saatchi Art | New York, NY
Jurors: Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator & VP, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art
Maria Brito, Art Advisor, Curator, Collector, Author
Ashley Stewart, Director of Sales at Salon 94
Jessamyn Fiore, Curator, Author & Co-Director of The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark
2015
Every Polished Grace | B.F. Larsen Gallery | Provo, UT | Juried exhibition
In/Finite Earth | The Smithsonian Institution, Volkswagen & The Kennedy Center | National tour: Washington D.C., Kentucky, Colorado, Virginia, Tennessee | Award of Excellence | Nationally Juried Exhibition
The Advantage | EdRev | San Francisco, CA
2013
The Dyslexic Advantage | B.F. Larsen Gallery | Provo, UT
The 100 Show | AIGA | Salt Lake City, UT | Juried Exhibition
BYU | Provo, UT | Juried Exhibition
2012
BYU | Provo, UT | Juried Exhibition
2008
Harret Center | Twin Falls, ID