Artwork Description
Clarence Heyward – Smile Every Day
Dimensions: 49 x 31″ framed / 48 x 30″ unframed
Year: 2023
Medium: acrylic on canvas
“Smile Every Day” is a painting by Clarence Heyward, a proud Black male artist born in Brooklyn and living in North Carolina. He attended La Guardia High School for the arts in New York, known as the basis for the movie Fame. Heyward refused to compromise his art practice, and his work was exhibited and collected by museums before he ever worked with galleries. The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the North Carolina Museum of Art were among the first museums to identify and collect his paintings, and many more are now seeking to acquire. Heyward is known for his subtle yet poignant commentary on Black family life in America; especially concepts of loss and damage that occur when Black fathers are removed from family life due to ongoing gun and police violence against them.