Clark Richert ///
Born ///
Wichita, KS
Blue Silo ///
Since 2011
Education ///
•BFA, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
•MFA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Medium ///
Painting, Drawing, Conceptual Art, Design, Architecture, Founder
IN MEMORY. . .
Clark Richert
Born; May 3, 1941, Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Died; December 24, 2021 (aged 80)
One of our own, Clark was a longtime Siloteer, a dedicated and celebrated artist who will not be forgotten. He has his own Wikipedia page!!!
Clark was a well-known artist in Denver. Besides having had a retrospective just over a year ago 2019 at MCA Denver, he has taught at RMCAD. He is also the founder of an architectural installation collaboration, called Drop City, he started in the ’70s located in southern Colorado.
Clark’s studio was as big as the Domes he became known for building. At the time of this photoshoot, a few large pieces are out from the stack just leaning against a large north wall in this old industrial-looking space. Still, only a few even larger paintings are tucked away near a bank of East facing windows were most of the natural light pours in. He shares part of his studio with a former student, Ben Siekierski.
Living through the pandemic this past year, Clark has only made a few trips to his studio. But as he moves around his space again, he yearns to return and begin creating work again. Reminiscing about the work that involved his quasi-symmetry, tedious color-mixing within the graphic details of organic patterns, Clark’s work is everywhere in his studio. Representing a variety of decades, sitting neatly in piles of brightly colored fabricated shapes on a table collecting dust but appearing ready at any moment to be put together like a complex puzzle, the plastic pieces mimic the Geodesic domes in his Drop City project.
On top of an old metal cabinet is a variety of dome-like three-dimensional constructions. They resemble science-related work rather than a piece of art. These structures expand out, like a globe that grows in your hands when you pull any rod outward. Clark’s studio feels like a playful place for discovery. It seems he prefers the natural light that comes through the windows facing East. The remnant of his work-in-progress sits about his space as dust collects on tables, paint tubes, and books because of his absence in recent months. An old 80’s Macintosh computer is propped on a table across the studio. It has become a landing spot for some other geodesic dome sculptures. A book lays under a pile of papers that reads, “Beauty Reigns''.
It seems like the perfect epithet for Clark’s work. Less than a year before his passing I talked him into a photoshoot for this site. That day I caught him lounging proudly and contemplatively in his favorite studio chair looking toward the natural light that gently leaks into his studio onto his large colorful paintings. He is no doubt humble, yet his presence looms big in this space that has been a stage for creating his own unique artistic language that has made him a luminary.
Black Mountain College ///
Medium: /// Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 70 in (177.8 x 177.8 cm)
Collection: /// Private