“Paint is the Subject”, the first solo exhibition in Switzerland dedicated to Ed Clark, offers a long-overdue and in-depth look at a pioneering figure in postwar abstraction. Curated by Tanya Barson in collaboration with the artist’s estate, the show spans seven decades of Clark’s career and presents a broad selection of his dynamic, large-scale paintings and works on paper. While the exhibition’s title is lifted from Clark’s own words — underscoring his belief in the primacy of paint — it also gestures at the radical simplicity that shaped his life’s work.
Born in New Orleans in 1926 and educated in Chicago and Paris, Clark absorbed influences from both American and European art worlds. His early immersion in the French avant-garde helped steer his practice toward abstraction, a turn captured in works like Untitled (1954). There, the emphasis shifts decisively from representation to gesture. “The real truth is in the stroke,” Clark once said, a philosophy that would continue to define his output for decades.
The Zurich exhibition captures key turning points in this evolution. In the 1960s and ’70s, while living between New York and Paris, Clark began experimenting with shaped canvases — a bold move that placed him among the first American artists to explore this format, even before figures like Frank Stella gained prominence for similar approaches. Works like Untitled (1970) and Silver Stripes (1972) show how Clark used oval supports and elliptical motifs to push the boundaries of perception, heightening the immersive potential of the canvas.
Later works from the 1980s and ’90s demonstrate a shift in Clark’s visual language, as he moved from the tight linear compositions of his earlier shaped works to the swirling, tubular brushstrokes seen in paintings like Untitled (ca. 1990s). These compositions feel less structured and more spontaneous, echoing Clark’s intuitive process and continued search for new visual rhythms. In later works, such as Untitled (2002), Clark continues this exploration through broad, sweeping gestures and a looser, more fluid structure that became characteristic of his later style.
One standout moment in the show is Untitled (Acrylic #1 from the series Louisiana) (1978), in which Clark channels the landscape of the American South through abstract means. Dividing the canvas into three horizontal zones, the artist evokes earth, sky, and water using acrylic applied with brooms and his hands. The palette —rich in pinks, blues, and beiges — feels both atmospheric and deeply personal, a tribute to the sensory memories of his early life.
Despite his innovations, Clark remained underrecognized for much of his career. Only in his later years did he begin to receive the attention his work merits, and exhibitions like this one continue the effort to properly situate him within the history of modern painting. His use of nontraditional tools like the broom and his exploration of shaped supports were not mere formal experiments — they were expressions of a deeper commitment to the material and physical act of painting.
“Paint is the Subject” offers not just a retrospective but a reevaluation. It situates Clark firmly within the broader narratives of abstract art, while also asserting the singularity of his vision. His belief that abstraction could convey emotional and experiential truths more effectively than realism is evident throughout. “You don’t get into something that you understand,” he once said of his process. “You just let it go.”
Clark said in an interview with the Pérez Art Museum in 2014, he would look around his studio, select some colors, and start experimenting. “When I get into painting like that,” he said, “you don’t get into something that you understand, right? You just let it go.”
