Locust Projects is proud to present Tropical Purgatory, an installation by the late Miami-born artist Michael Garland Clifford (1986 – 2016). This exhibition is constructed from renderings created for a proposal at the Locust Projects’ Project Room as well as through correspondence with family, friends and artistic partners.
Known for his crude, process-based paintings, his work often appeared deliberately unrefined. He often employed the use of ingenious abstract mark-making methods and punctuated his works with nostalgic symbols. His canvases were imbued with childlike naievety while acknowledging the anxieties of youth. The project he proposed for LP explores these motifs in a fully-fleshed physical environment
The project on view at LP posthumously realizes the artist’s vision to create his first immersive installation. The title Tropical Purgatory is taken from the Clifford’s conversation with his friend and gallerist Mickey Pomfrey about his ideas for this show. A middle ground between paradise and inferno, a place of waiting and repentance, this purgatory is one of leisure and beauty. A place where fate is cast and obstinate, things that once were fun now become maddening. Monotony and ennui of it all can really weigh you down.
Locust Projects
3852 North Miami Avenue,
Miami Fl 33127
305.576.8570
www.locustprojects.org
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