Artist Biography 6: Clinton Bopp

 

Clinton Bopp,

Painter, Muralist, Street Artist:

 

 

Clinton was born in Aotearoa, New Zealand

and now lives & works in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

 

 

 

Clinton is inspired by people, his surroundings and places he visits. He seeks to show the interconnectedness of people and the world around him in his artwork. It is a fantastic amalgamation of his roots in nature, his urban soul, the Maori influences from his native land and the deep respect he holds for the cosmic.

All is stamped with an eye on the “Street.”

 

His murals, which are executed in every conceivable style, show mastery of large-scale drawing and composition. His images often have political or social elements and he feels they portray an accurate image of the world in which we live. He wants his works (which are filled layer upon layer with narrative, mystic and literal street elements)

to engulf their environments

 

The Renaissance, Mexican murals and the idea that art should communicate a message or story influence Clinton and his work.

 

Though he prefers acrylic paint, he often uses a spray can, oil paint and paint pens and he will paint on any surface which comes to hand. This includes recycled canvas that has perhaps been abandoned, as well as wood, walls, even shoes & furniture...

 

 

All artwork on this page (c)copyright Clinton Bopp, 2013.

 

To see more of Clinton's wonderful artwork, please visit...

http://www.clintonbopp.com/

 

 

 

A Special Event

Just For the Whakapapa Show!!!

 

As well as contributing some of his unique paintings to this exhibition, Clinton will

ALSO be creating a live mural on some of the glass windows within the library itself!!

 

“The piece that I’m proposing to do in the library is called...

 

‘Past, Present & Future’.

 

This piece represents the continuous connection between the past,

present and future. The past is depicted through the portrait of an elderly Aboriginal man, who carries with him wisdom and knowledge of the past. The modern day city of Melbourne acts as a backdrop, signifying the present. The spiraling geometric blocks that emerge from the man’s eye symbolize his vision for the future as a digital world. The future is imminent and time is continuous in this world. The message is to never lose sight of the past, but to learn and grow from it, in hope that it will shape the present and the future.”

(Clinton Bopp, 2013.)



The first floor windows of the City Library
(Flinders Lane Melbourne) where Clinton will create his glass mural.

"Past, Present & Future" by Clinton Bopp
- proposed mural on glass, City Library, Melbourne (July 2013).


Clinton will start working on this mural the weekend of the 6th of July (during library open hours). It will be created on two of the City Library's internal windows. His work will be visible (as he creates it) in the very busy
laneways, bars & cafes far below in Flinders Lane...

 

 

This "see-through" glass mural will be worked on throughtout the first
three weeks of the Whakapapa exhibition. More details coming very soon. And because the work will be see-through, the natural light will become a part of it
as it shines in through the library window (see examples below)...

 

 

 

"It is not very often that you can view a mural

from two different sides of the surface it has been painted onto. It will be a very magical thing

to watch it being created too - from either

inside the library itself, or outside (looking up)

from the busy streets & laneways..."

(Brent Harpur, Curator of "Whakapapa".)

 

 

 

 

WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY A BIG " Kia ora "

(THANKS) TO 'CITY OF MELBOURNE', ASH & JESS (MISS YOU!)

FOR AGREEING TO LET CLINTON DO THIS DURING OUR EXHIBITION...