Arnold David Clapman  

The 80's

In 1980, Arnold began a series of surreal portraits, in soft pastels, that led to his Lovecraftian Devil Portrait Series; his attraction to the medium was it’s plasticity and convenience. Upon moving to New York City, his friend, the noted illustrator Joan Hall used her influence to get several paintings from this series included in the Annual Fantasy & Science Fiction Exhibition at the Greengrass Gallery. Seven of the dozen images planned were created then. The final five were completed years later in California. The entire series may be viewed by clicking on the Recent Work listing to the right.

 

As Arnold circulated through the art venues of New York, his work, though still surrealistic and fantastical, became more representational. He formed a production company with the folk-singer, Richie Havens; created album-cover designs, comic-book art for Heavy Metal Magazine and illustrations for various magazines and greeting card companies; celebrity art projects included Richie, Muhammad Ali, and Cheech Marin.

 

Because Arnold was more comfortable in the underground art markets, he, wisely or foolishly, walked away from the opportunity to become a mainstream illustrator for advertisers such as Breck Shampoo, Kawasaki Motorcycles and the like, where he was expected  to paint beautiful people having fun. The remainder of the 80's was spent in ARM Productions developing a project involving film colorization and restoration. That led to his move to California, in 1985.