Cecret by CE Gallery lands George Clinton exhibition in Nashville

Parliament-Funkadelic visionary George Clinton is bringing his groovy art to Nashville.

And in true George Clinton fashion, the process to share his artwork with Music City was an unconventional one.

Gallerist Clarence Edward of Cecret by CE Gallery received the art in two boxes. There were no labels — only 33 unnamed pieces.

It was like writing a paper with no topic. But as the show’s curator, Edward had to make it work.

That he did, and the work paid off. What was born was “Grooves from the Deep And the Space Math of George Clinton” featuring the creations of the titular funk and Afro-futurist icon.

Photos: Art exhibit "Birth" at the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center in Hendersonville.

Clinton painted most of his work during the pandemic when he had plenty of downtimes.

He said while painting a specific motif, such as one of a hidden duck, he would play his own music that reminded him of cheerful times and move the brush with the rhythm of the beat.

“The lexicon, that handwriting — that's one of the strokes that comes out of the rhythm, and the rhythm is almost the same as music. It’s a groove," Clinton said. "And I put on a lot of the old songs that we recorded because I got a lot of my copyright back. So I’ve been playing a lot of the old songs so it reminds me of a happy thing."

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Clinton finds it difficult to articulate his art because it is a groove or a feeling for him that cannot fully be expressed in words. This inspired the naming of the exhibition.

"I've got the rhythm because that’s the fun part. What’s hard for me is the intellectual aspect," Clinton said. "So I do get a view of the waves, and the curves and all of that. But not only the colors, and shapes, and costuming and the spaceship — there are the beats of the music."

Clinton has been working with Soho House venues across the country. Cecret has occupied space within the historical May Hosiery Mills for several months, which is located directly next to Soho House Nashville.

It was Clinton’s art adviser Spring McManus who reached out to Edward about doing a show because Cecret is known for running its exhibitions in a unique manner.

“We're very fun with our shows. We don't like rules,” Edward said. “We give our artists a chance to truly express themselves in their own way. So it was, I think, a great combination to do this show together.”

Edward is a self-declared “heavy Afropunk dude” who loves to attend the festival. Clinton is a familiar name to those in that circle who embrace Afro-futurism, funk and other cultural art movements led by and made for Black artists.

Many Afropunk attendees are likely to cite Clinton as an important source of inspiration, according to Edward. In fact, he is someone “a lot of people put on their vision boards” to help fuel musical and style ideas.

From July 9 to July 31, visionary Clinton’s mixed media paintings and drawings can be viewed by appointment at Cecret by CE Gallery at 516 Houston Street in the Wedgewood-Houston Arts District. Reservations can be made by emailing info@cegallery.co.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: George Clinton debuts exhibition at Cecret by CE Gallery in Nashville