George Clinton

Jupiter is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent works by legendary musician and Funk icon, George Clinton. Featuring 11 paintings from three of his ongoing series: “Mothership,” “Atomic Dog,” and “Entities,” the show Ruff presents a collection of Clinton’s most iconic themes from across his prolific career.

Clinton is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, performer, costume designer, and founder of the band Parliament/Funkadelic, which launched pioneering explorations into science fiction and psychedelia. His visual artwork is a mix of funkadelic mythologies and utopian fantasies. As a founder of the Afrofuturist movement, Clinton inspired some of contemporary arts’ leading figures, such as Lauren Halsey, Mickalene Thomas, Derrick Adams, and Rashid Johnson.

His iconic autograph of a silhouetted dog from the 1950s is considered the genesis of his visual art practice. The visual vocabulary that took shape during that time, specifically via his signature, developed further as a recurring theme in his series of “Atomic Dog” paintings, such as Ruff (2021), SniffOvision (2012), and Methamphetamutt (c. 2012). The Dog for George Clinton is the ideal, for when things get Ruff, “man’s best friend” is always there to uplift.

Clinton’s various atomic dogs take shape in acrylic and spray paint on canvas, augmented by swift lines in marker to delineate a floppy ear, a pouty eye, an elongated snout. These figural paintings share a compositional affinity with another of the artist’s central themes, “Entities.” Exemplified by For Example (2023) and Untitled 66 (2022), the “Entities”, which represent individuals that descend upon us from the artist’s Mothership, pose a distinctly Afrofuturist turn in Clinton’s universe.

The Mothership features prominently on the album cover, Mothership Connection. The physical stage prop is on permanent display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. Abstracted to various degrees in his paintings, the Mothership appears throughout Clinton’s practice: sometimes quite literally as a phantom in the sky (Imprint on the Ether, 2022); other times encircled and grounded by red lasers (Captured, 2022); or illuminated against the dark recesses of the universe (ViseVersa, 2022, or LitUp, 2022).

George Clinton (b. 1941) is a musician, singer, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament- Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science fiction, futuristic fashion, and surreal humor. He has had solo exhibitions at Jeffrey Deitch, New York; Spillman | Blackwell Fine Art, New Orleans; George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center, Austin; and The National Museum of African American Music, Nashville. His Mothership is on permanent display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and is currently featured prominently throughout their Afrofuturism exhibition on view through August 18, 2024. He will have a solo exhibition at the Savannah College of Art and Design Art Museum in September of 2024. Spring McManus Art Advisory represents and manages George Clinton’s visual art practice.