I WOKE UP IN bALTIMORE

cHRIS cLARK

AUGUST 15 - sEPTEMBER 26, 2026

On view at Red Giant, I Woke Up in Baltimore presents new work by Chris Clark, made during his first summer in the MICA’S MFAST program and drawn directly from his arrival in the city. The exhibition brings together two bodies of work that turn everyday materials and overlooked images into pointed reflections on how young Black men and their surroundings are seen, judged, and revalued.

The Targets series is painted on repurposed Target shopping bags, a choice that began as a way to save on supplies and became central to the work, as the target symbol recurs throughout Clark's practice. Responding to current events, each piece names something young Black men are targeted for in America: simply existing, gathering in groups, their style of dress, and more. The familiar retail logo is reframed as a mark of surveillance and threat.

A second group of graffiti-style pieces grew out of Clark's walks through a city he was encountering for the first time. Camera in hand, he set out to immerse himself in Baltimore and found himself struck by its graffiti, street art, and murals. Graffiti is often dismissed as vandalism, and Clark takes up that judgment directly, lifting the form off the street and into the gallery to test whether a change of context can change how it is valued.

I Woke Up in Baltimore is on view August 15 through September 26, 2026 at Red Giant, 403 N. Paca Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Artist Bio

Chris Clark is a self-taught artist rooted in portraiture and figurative expression, working across acrylics, oils, inks, spray paints, collage, and new media. His work explores Black culture, identity, and natural hair, with an emphasis on representation and subjects often underrepresented in high art institutions. He recently had a solo show at the Historic Ali Cultural Arts Center in Pompano Beach, FL, and participated in the inaugural Jax Contemporary Triennial at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, FL. He is a recipient of the DEAR (Digital Evolution Artist Retention) fellowship through the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in New York.