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\n“I paint the way I do music”<\/p>\n
At 84, George Clinton is a funk legend, ubiquitous hip-hop sample source, father of psychedelic Afrofuturism… and now, a painter with an exhibition opening in Paris.<\/p>\n
Through it all, the self-taught American artist, the force behind the celebrated groups Parliament and Funkadelic, has hewed to his signature vision: “Gotta have that funk.”<\/p>\n
Clinton exploded on the scene in the 1960s, making his debut in Motown before gathering a talented crew of artists to create P-Funk, a new, fusional musical style that would deeply influence the likes of Prince, Snoop Dog, Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.<\/p>\n
“We came out of the psychedelic era and everything was permissible,” Clinton told AFP.<\/p>\n
“I could free my mind, I could do whatever the music turned out to be.”<\/p>\n
\n“I paint the way I do music”<\/p>\n
Blending soul, funk, rock, and disco, Clinton tapped the zeitgeist of an era of whirlwind change, crafting lines that captured the sexual liberation of the 1960s and 70s – “Free your mind and your ass will follow” – and delivering epic four-hour concerts in platform boots and alien-inspired suits.<\/p>\n
Today, the one-time New Jersey barber, who won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Grammys, has moved on from multicoloured dreadlocks and mind-altering drugs.<\/p>\n
He struggles somewhat to get around, but is still an artistic force, keenly tuned in to the sounds of our times.<\/p>\n
“As soon as I hear kids making new music that gets on my nerve, that’s the music I want, because that’s usually telling me, ‘This is the new s***,'” he said.<\/p>\n
Funk has always been his “secret weapon”, he said.<\/p>\n
“Funk protects you… from getting old… It’s that same attitude that frees your mind.<\/p>\n
“It’s like Star Wars. ‘Use the force, Luke.’ Use the funk, Luke.”<\/p>\n
‘All about the vibe’<\/p>\n
Clinton got his start in the graphic arts, signing autographs stylised as dog’s heads.<\/p>\n
During the Covid pandemic, he grew into a more serious artist, taking up acrylic and spray painting.<\/p>\n
He made his art debut with a series of shows in the United States.<\/p>\n
Now, he is on to Paris and the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, a stone’s throw from the French presidential palace, where his work will be on display through mid-December.<\/p>\n
The show features Clinton’s abstract paintings and a sculpture representing the Mothership – for his influential 1975 concept album, Mothership Connection.<\/p>\n
“I feel like I’m somebody,” he said of opening a show in world art capital Paris.<\/p>\n
His signature style pervades his work.<\/p>\n
“I paint the way I do music,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00236b82-614.jpg\"\/)
\n“It’s just whatever it is, it’s all about the vibe”<\/p>\n
“I did a lot of paintings that came out really good, but I had no idea what they are when I first started, and I don’t want to intellectualise it. It’s just whatever it is, it’s all about the vibe.”<\/p>\n
But all is not carefree in Clinton’s world.<\/p>\n
He has been locked in various legal battles for years over copyrights for his musical catalogue.<\/p>\n
His eternal optimism is also being put to the test by the deeply polarised political climate in the United States, says Clinton, no fan of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
“No matter how good it gets, there’s always something that’s come along trying to spoil the party,” he said, calling President Trump “like a cartoon – not even a good cartoon”.<\/p>\n
In his album Chocolate City, released 50 years ago, Clinton and Parliament imagined a White House under the sway of funk, with Aretha Franklin as First Lady and Stevie Wonder as Secretary of Fine Arts.<\/p>\n
That dream looks distant today, but he still believes in a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n
On one condition: “We have to keep up the funk.”<\/p>\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n