Studio visit with Clinton Bopp

May 22, 2011
What an exhilarating experience. What an overwhelming amount of work.
Congratulations to Clinton for his absolutely massive amount of art created in a relatively short time (in terms of years on the earth, that is).
Present at the meeting: Phoebe, Clinton, Peggy, Carolyn, Judith, Clara Llano and Madeline Fraser.
Clinton hails from New Zealand and has been living in LA for the past 12 years.
His life story is fascinating and informs his work throughout. His father was a Navy Seal. Clinton was raised to follow in his footsteps. He learned to survive in the wilderness and was exposed to an interesting hybrid of kiwi, Mawri and US military culture. He followed his artistic spirit and moved to LA. He was homeless for a while but used his survivor's instincts to create a life. Introduced to and exposed to Mexican art and artists and mesmerized by the "street" life of LA, he relocated to downtown. There he spent a decade immersing in and documenting his urban life. Trust me, he's seen a lot. He challenged himself to use those "survival" skills in the thick of downtown, before the Lakers stepped foot near the future hip zone.
That was then. Now he lives in a gloriously bucolic guest house, with jacuzzi, sauna and two pigs near his front door. But he's the sanest madman artist there is.
His fine art is a fantastic amalgamation of his roots in nature, his urban soul, Mawri influences, respect for the cosmic with an eye on the street. He's a whiz of a painter. Mural after mural, painting in every conceivable style for his movie production work.
His installations are engulfing environments filled layer upon layer of narrative, mystic and literal street elements.
He's working on a show in November at Highways. Don't miss it.
Judith described his work as "operatic". The rest of us just dropped our jaws at the sheer output of excellence.
I know that this is an extremely busy time for our academic friends. We missed you and we are sorry that you missed Clinton's visit.