Artistic Statement

Momar Yusef Clemons (born on May 4, 1973, in Redwood City, California, U.S.A) is a Brooklyn-based  African-American who is noted for his multi-disciplinary work. The artist employs mixed media with a  focus on the dialogue of painting and drawing. His works explore the Black diasporic history and the  Black experience in American culture, through a non-linear narrative and a dreamlike pop aesthetic.

The images Clemons creates are full of symbolism. His bold compositions reflect the spirit of  postmodernism, which assumes an individualistic and isolated self. In response, the artist draws  inspiration from the inner world and the limitless power of the imagination. This is a mysterious world  for all of us that springs from the most transcendent place of consciousness and allow us to unfold and  construct (or deconstruct) realities. This is how Clemons creates a more personal, subjective, and  intuitive art. An experience is constructed that involves the inner world of the artist and the public, mediated by allegorical images.

Visually, Clemons has developed a personal colorful style that combines kitsch motifs with the excessive  details of baroque paintings. The artist takes the decorative character further and plays with the concept  of the frame, an element with a long tradition in fine art. The frames also have a narrative function, as  they serve as portals in a storyline told by the artist.

We can also appreciate surrealistic elements in his images. Clemons blends the architecture of different  cultures and eras into grandiloquent and gigantic landscapes, while the figures remain calm and even  festive. The artist celebrates nature and the transcendence of the human spirit in an anachronistic  narrative. Clemons shows the artificiality of pop and exposes a society of solitary beings, and invites us to surrender to our imagination