NEW YORK — Whiteboards with to-do lists (“June MUST start painting pots”) and misshapen ceramic vases litter the otherwise stark interior of Jake Clark’s Brooklyn studio. The Australian-born artist is busy preparing for a show in East Hampton, N.Y., as his black standard poodle Prince lounges nearby. Perfect in their hand-coiled imperfections, the vessels still need to be painted with the insignia of some of the East End’s most iconic haunts: bagels from Goldberg’s, ice cream at Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen and live music at Stephen Talkhouse, to name a few.
“Have you ever been to Keens?” Clark suddenly asks, peering over an unfinished Sant Ambroeus piece. He is always thinking about food, in this case the venerable Manhattan chophouse, even as his hands pay tribute to an Italian cafe in East Hampton.
Despite the price tags of Clark’s works — ranging from an $8,000 ashtray to a $25,000 vase standing about 30 inches — nearly a third of the current collection has already sold before the show’s opening this past Saturday, largely due to the cult following that Clark, 39, has amassed in just a few short years.
Like matchbooks, vintage ashtrays and surreptitiously pocketed memorabilia, Clark’s work provides a tangible memory from what might be a first date with a lover, a milestone birthday celebration or perhaps just a really good meal.
His first collection, made in Melbourne, Australia, during the pandemic, paid homage to the legendary Los Angeles spots he so sorely missed — Dan Tana’s, Madeo, the Beverly Hills Hotel — as a means of artistic teleportation. Clark, who lived in L.A. just before and right after the pandemic, shared the finished works on Instagram.
“People started seeing them, and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I resonate with this place so much. I’ve been going here since I was a little kid. And oh, this is like my favorite place,’” Clark says. “I was doing places that I just longed for.”
His work gained traction almost immediately, and L.A.’s Kantor Gallery eventually gave Clark his first solo exhibit in October 2020. To draw prospective buyers, Kantor placed a series of L.A.-themed vases outside their respective establishments and photographed them for what would be Clark’s first book, “Pico & Glendon.” Songwriter Benny Blanco picked up three, two of which can be seen in his recent Architectural Digest home tour, as did Emma Roberts, Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and Rebel Wilson.
“As an outsider to the U.S., we often glamorize a lot of famous U.S. places, and I liked that Jake’s work encapsulates the sentimentality held toward a lot of these places,” says Wilson, who owns several works, including a Hotel Bel-Air vase, where she and her partner had their first date.
Like Wilson, Davidson cherishes his Campania Coal Fired Pizza ashtray, his favorite Staten Island joint, calling it a “staple” in his house.
In a way, Clark’s art is the product of American food marketing, with its colorful logos designed to stand out on supermarket shelves. Growing up, his health-conscious mother never kept sugar-rush-inducing snacks in their Melbourne home. But that wasn’t always the case at his friends’ houses, where he gravitated toward the bubble writing of Lucky Charms cereal and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
“I was just obsessed,” Clark says. “I used to keep the wrappers if someone brought it back [and] draw it. So what I’m doing now is not too far off [from] what I was doing as a kid, right?”
Inspired by a wall of quirky ceramics at his grandparents’ house, Clark began painting his beloved eateries’ logos onto ceramics he made by hand shortly after dropping out of art school. By 2022, Clark moved his wife and daughter to New York City, arguably the epicenter of the art world, and set up his Brooklyn studio.
“I think he’s sort of in the tradition of pop artists, but he’s a very personal pop artist,” says Maria Bell, the former chairwoman of MOCA Los Angeles and an avid art collector who owns several of Clark’s pieces.
Bell described a friend’s birthday party themed after the now-defunct Beverly Hills restaurant Trader Vic’s. The focal point of the fete: A Trader Vic’s vase made by Clark that was displayed in the party’s entryway. It was a gift from Bell to her friend; the pair frequented the tiki haunt together in the ’80s.
“It just taps into all of your happy memories and nostalgia,” says Bell, who added that there wasn’t a single person who didn’t stop to gawk at Clark’s art at the party. “It’s why they’re so collectible,” she adds.
Following the success of his first show, Clark continued to do a series of shows in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London and Palm Beach, Fla., all giving nods to the tried-and-true hangouts of those places.
With the buzz surrounding Clark's work, restaurateurs began inquiring about pieces.
Will Makris, owner of the Italian hot spot Cucina Alba in New York and the private members club Zero Bond, purchased a Cucina Alba-inspired vase for his home and a Zero Bond vase that’s currently displayed on the club’s floor. Philippe Chow owns two vases inspired by his namesake restaurant, Mr. Chow, and Michele Tognozzi, owner of New York’s Bar Pitti, has a Bar Pitti ashtray.
Tognozzi understands the fixation people have with the places they frequent. She has collected branded plates and spends thousands on matchboxes to leave for her diners. Some of her die-hard customers have even gotten inked with the red rose featured on Bar Pitti’s napkins. “Four people have walked in and lifted up their shirt. They’re like, ‘Look, I got the tattoo,’” Tognozzi said.
Clark’s work allows people to pay tribute to spots that have stood the test of time and seen them through the ups and downs of life.
“There’s something sweet about it,” says gallerist Adam Cohen, who is behind the East Hampton show. “Jake’s got a core group of collectors, which consistently buy from him, which is, I think, extremely telling,” he adds. “For whatever reason, Jake gets into people’s psyches.”
“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” runs through July 22 at Adam Cohen’s A Hug From the Art World pop-up at 87 Newtown Lane in East Hampton, N.Y.; 347-573-2814.
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Artist Jake Clark’s muse? Your favorite restaurant. - The Washington Post
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