<\/p>\n George Clinton\u2019s \u201cDigital Dabbling,\u201d which is part of the exhibit \u201cMothership,\u201d is on display at Mariane Ibrahim gallery in West Town.<\/p>\n Though he is colorblind, he has created a variety of vibrant motherships using acrylic, spray paint and charcoal. The exhibit even includes a tiny replica of the iconic, $500,000 spaceship<\/a> that he debuted on his P-Funk Earth Tour in 1976. Building upon the universe he created as the leader of Parliament-Funkadelic, his visual art underscores his contribution to Afrofuturism<\/a>, a cultural movement that envisions a future of liberation for Black people.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a pre-internet architect of Afrofuturism vocabulary and imagery,\u201d said Mariane Ibrahim, a French-Somali gallerist who also owns spaces in Paris and Mexico City. <\/p>\n \u201cTo think about Black bodies in the cosmic [realm], as technological bodies, he was one of the first artists to engage with that. My parents used to look at him like, \u2018He\u2019s totally crazy.\u2019 But this craziness had the color of my skin, so I felt entitled to be crazy as well, to free myself.\u201d<\/p>\n From doodling dogs to displaying at Art Basel<\/p>\n Before he started painting, Clinton was a sketch artist, often doodling dogs alongside his autographs. The images became so popular, likely due to his 1982 hit \u201cAtomic Dog,\u201d that people sent him official commissions.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody paid me $15,000 to paint a dog,\u201d Clinton said. \u201cAnd then I sold another one for like $10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n But it was during the pandemic that Clinton became more focused on visual art, using the downtime to hone his craft. He doesn\u2019t consider his colorblindness to be a hindrance \u2014 or his eccentric fashion. While painting, he focuses on shading more than color, though things would get tricky when his kids and grandkids played pranks by switching the labels on his paint jars.<\/p>\n \u201cI get away with it pretty good because nobody even knew I was colorblind for years,\u201d he said. \u201cColors don\u2019t clash, I guess, if you don\u2019t know any better.\u201d<\/p>\n Since securing an art manager and team, Clinton has displayed his art everywhere from Art Basel Miami Beach to the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia. Last year, his paintings of dogs were included in a group exhibition at Mariane Ibrahim\u2019s Paris gallery.<\/p>\n \u201cThese portraits of dogs look so human,\u201d Ibrahim said. \u201cThey have personalities. They have attitude. They also are very psychedelic and make you want to dive into his world.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n George Clinton, \u201cConsidering,\u201d 2023<\/p>\n Courtesy of George Clinton and Mariane Ibrahim<\/p>\n As he progresses in this new phase of his career, Clinton said he has been learning what the industry now considers high art; for example, he said he didn\u2019t realize graffiti artists were being taken seriously by the art world until recently.<\/p>\n \u201cBasquiat used to hang around with us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t think of [graffiti] as fine art.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of her mission, Ibrahim said she is trying to change who gets to make those determinations while increasing exposure to works by diverse artists.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we have to democratize the way we are learning art,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my youth [in France], I had absolutely no access to any form of Black art and Black artists. I\u2019ve always had to make an extra effort to find artists that represented me.\u201d<\/p>\n To that end, she said she shares Clinton\u2019s rebellious spirit. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was a renegade,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was an anti-system person.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mariane Ibrahim, owner of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, said George Clinton\u2019s music gave her permission to \u201cbe crazy\u201d Defying categories and predicting the future<\/p>\n With his Parliament and Funkadelic bands, Clinton stood out by defying genre categories forced on Black musical acts. He also created a host of futuristic Black characters, including Star Child, Dr. Funkenstein and Sir Nose, that were brought to life on album covers by artists Overton Loyd and Chicago native Pedro Bell<\/a>.<\/p>\n He also sang about everything from cloning to artificial intelligence (\u00e0 la \u201cthe nosiest computer\u201d lyric on the 1977 song \u201cFunkentelechy.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cI love AI now,\u201d he said, but refused to elaborate on how he is using it in his music today.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t give you the secrets,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n George Clinton\u2019s \u201cPrecious Metal,\u201d a replica of his iconic spaceship that was a staple at his live shows, is part of his exhibition, \u201cMothership,\u201d at Mariane Ibrahim gallery in West Town. <\/p>\n Clinton said he has stayed relevant by changing with the times, whether it was pivoting from the \u201cMotown Sound\u201d to psychedelia or embracing the hip-hop artists who sampled his music. And today, he sees young people enjoying themselves at his shows.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got fans from 12 to 112,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like going to the circus. Grandparents can go, and parents and kids can go together.\u201d<\/p>\n That cross-section of people was present at the opening of \u201cMothership\u201d in Chicago, as people of all ages and races took selfies with Clinton. Older fans brought their kids and grandchildren. Some wore P-Funk T-shirts and brought their records for Clinton to sign. <\/p>\n Yvette Oduro, 56, of South Shore, said she had \u201cchills\u201d when she saw the music icon.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up listening to his records on my mother\u2019s big green stereo that looked like a piece of furniture, perusing through all the album covers, and just imagining what was on the artist\u2019s mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe brought such an imagination of what it is to be Black and to transcend anybody else\u2019s ideas of what that is. It made me think about my future in many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785153609_886_.jpeg\")
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and free herself. <\/p>\n![\"GEORGECLINTON_260728-19.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785153611_894_.jpeg\")
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