Inside Clark Goolsby’s Colorful, Geometric, & Energetic World
March 9, 2016 by Caitlin Confort
As the Art Zealous team poked around the Art on Paper fair this past weekend in New York, we were show-stopped by the radiant and luminous work of Clark Goolsby in FMLY Gallery’s booth. We were engulfed by Goolsby’s world of illuminating shapes splashed with color and delighted by the quirky names of his pieces (i.e. Boogie Woogie).
Goolsby has drawn and painted his entire life – he couldn’t imagine a life where he wasn’t making art every day. His hard work and passion have certainly paid off as his work has been exhibited in: Johanssen Gallery Berlin, Germany; Mirus Gallery, San Francisco; Contemporary, Dallas, TX; and POVevolving Gallery, Los Angeles.
Art Zealous sat down with Clark Goolsby to discuss his Art on Paper experience as well as his creative vision.
Art Zealous: Hometown?
Clark Goolsby: I grew up in a small town in Northern California called Santa Rosa.
AZ: Coffee or tea?
CG: Coffee. In large quantities.
AZ: What is your creative process like?
CG: I primarily make paintings, but also dabble in sculpture as well. My paintings are very time and labor intensive. I paint directly on canvas and also on paper that I later cut up and collage back into the paintings. Contrary to the aesthetic, my painting process is pretty fluid, and I try to leave a lot of room for evolution and happy accidents in the process.
AZ: I love the use of color in your work – why do you gravitate towards such bright colors?
CG: I want my paintings to balance on the line between order and chaos. Whether used harmoniously or discordantly, color can help to create both of those feelings in a painting. Also, I just really love color.
AZ: How do you use lines and shapes to contribute to the mood or meaning?
CG: Lines and shapes play a similar role to color in my paintings. I love playing with shape and perspective to create paintings that feel solid and tangible, but also totally implausible at the same time.
AZ: If your artwork were music, what would it sound like?
CG: Like the love child of Prince and Animal Collective.
AZ: Tell us about your exhibition at Art on Paper this past weekend, we loved it!
CG: It was really a great experience. Working on paper or with paper has always been a huge part of my practice, so Art On Paper felt like a natural fit for my work. I exhibited with FMLY gallery for the first time, and they have a program I really admire. They only do solo shows at fairs, which I think is the best way to present work in that context. Since it was going to be a solo booth, I made a body of new work specifically for the fair. I was really happy how the pieces turned out.
AZ: What can we expect to see from you in the future?
CG: I’m opening a solo show of new paintings at Mirus Gallery in San Francisco on March 19th. I’ve been working on the show for the last year, and am very excited to share the new work.