As we have come to the end of A Hot and Quiet Evening I thought I would share with you a short biography of Peter Clarke’s remarkable life.
He was born in Simonstown, 1929, Cape Town. Much of his work is inspired by this beautiful coastal village where he lived until 1972, when he was forced to move to Ocean View under the Group Areas Act. He still lives there to this day and works from home.
He left high school in 1944 and was a dock worker until 1956 when, aged 27, a three month holiday to Teslaarsdal, a small farming village near Caledon in the South West Cape, began his artistic career. Equipped with art materials he had brought along with him he explored a variety of themes that one can see developing in his work throughout his career. Apart from working on and off as an artist’s model during the next two years, he had now begun his full-time occupation as an artist.
He studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town in 1961, the Rijks Academic van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Holland in 1962 and 1963, and Atelier Nord (Graphic Art Workshop) in Oslo, Norway in 1978 and 1979. He has received six international as well as six national awards for his art and writing and had more than 70 solo exhibitions since 1957 in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Australia, USA, Norway, Israel, Austria & the UK. He has also had many group shows in South Africa, Yugoslavia, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Italy, USA, Argentine, Norway, Botswana, Japan, Switzerland & France.
An important thing to note about Peter Clarke is the multifaceted nature of his creativity. He is not just a visual artist but also a writer and a poet and has works published both locally and internationally. ARTTHROB has a wonderful biographical article on him which quotes his own words on this situation: “Had I been triplets, it would have made it much easier because each could have his own job. There are times when I go through a writing phase and there are times for phases of picture-making but there is never a dull moment."
(To see ARTTHROB’s article click on the link below)
lamplight 2006
NOTE!
The Kalk Bay Modern will be presenting a new exhibition on Wednesday 9th December. Be sure not to miss 3000 Hours, an exhibition of painting and textiles by Bronwen Findlay and Merle Payne-Barok. The opening starts at 6PM and the show runs until 31st December.
It will also feature textiles by local South African designers Yda Walt, Veldt, Sway, Fabric Nation, Ekoka San Prints and Keiskamma Art Project Embroideries.
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