Artist: Leroy Clarke

LeRoy Clarke (1938-2021) - Master Artist, National Icon, Honorary Fellow of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Chief Ifa Oje Won Yomi Abiodun, Honorary Doctor of Letters (UTT)

LeRoy Clarke was born in Belmont, Port of Spain on 7th November 1938 and is considered to be one of Trinidad and Tobago's finest contemporary artists. Self-taught, Clarke's prowess as a visual artist grew from a compulsion to see and to go deeper than surfaces allowed.

His hometown, Gonzales, Behind De Bridge was his training ground. He was nurtured in the security of community; his study was as casual as play, a hobby, he states, from which he has not really awaken! The rituals of Shango Yard, Hindu Ceremonies, Hosay Celebrations, Shouter Baptists, and Pan exposed his impressionable mind to the varying dimensions of the cultural mix of Trinidad and have proven to be fundamental to the integrity of his Art.

A man of many talents, this former schoolteacher was also a lead singer in a popular singing, group THE BEAMERS (1958-65) and, was seriously involved in the theatre community.

A sojourn in the United States from the 16th December 1967 to 1980 helped to broaden his experience and set him on the path to greatness. During his stay in the United States, Clarke was the first Artist-In-Residence at the Studio Museum of Harlem 1972-1974.

A proficient writer he has contributed many essays on issues of national importance and is the author and publisher of five books: TASTE OF ENDLESS FRUIT (1972); DOUENS (1976); EYEING DE WORD - Love Poems For Ettylene (2004) and the Cinderella edition of DE DISTANCE IS HERE, The El Tucuche Poems 1984-2007, (2007) and SECRET INSECT OF A BIRD DEEP IN ME, WANTING TO FLY (2008) a chronicle of his drawings (pen and ink) from the 1960 s to 2008.

In 1972, he had his first One-man exhibition in New York Studio Museum in Harlem. That series of paintings was called FRAGMENTS OF A SPIRITUAL. With FRAGMENTS OF A SPIRITUAL (1968-1972) and DOUENS (1973-1976) completed and shown both in the USA and at home, he was immersed sufficiently in the idea that the vista before him begged epic challenge. Today, both as painter and, writer he is already hailed by some who have followed his work, as the region's first epic Poet!