Meet the Artists

Jan 31, 2025

arlohotels

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Two abstract paintings depicting faces are displayed on a wall. The left painting has a blue background, and the right has a red background.

How Arlo DC’s new art installation celebrates Black History Month and the sacred art of creation.

As members of our Arlo fam probably know, we’re passionate about art around here. Arlo’s Living Room Gallery series was created by Jasmine Arakel to make contemporary art more accessible via the public spaces of our hotels.

This February, to honor Black History Month, Arlo Washington DC is celebrating the work of two exceptional artists, Halim Flowers and Clarence James, whose work will be on display at ART DC, the hotel’s rooftop lounge with jaw-dropping Capitol Hill views, for a limited time. The opening reception for the installation, open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, February 5, and will include a panel moderated by Avalon Ashley Bellos of DTR Modern, Arlo’s partner for the exhibition. Here, Jasmine brings us a sneak peek of the discussion, with these exclusive conversations with Halim and Clarence about their work and creative lives.

Clarence: I graduated from Howard University in 2014 with a degree in marketing, and I began my journey as an artist—self-taught, no art school. I decided to become an artist through sheer force of will and God’s grace. It took about seven years to reach the point where a gallery saw an opportunity to work with me. That gallery is DTR Modern, which has helped me reach a whole new audience. 

At age 16, Halim was charged as an adult for being an accomplice to a felony murder. While incarcerated, he discovered his love for literature and the arts. Halim served 22 years and two months behind bars, and was released in 2019.

Halim: Letter writing is a lost art in modern society, but it was very important to me as a child in the penal system. It was my primary form of communication with the outside world. This evolved into love letters and poetry, song composition, drafting legal motions and briefs, and eventually creating a publishing company, through which I released 11 nonfiction books. I developed a deep relationship with the etymology of words, and the implementation of text is important to the visual language of my paintings.

Clarence: I started with a heavy curiosity about graffiti and street artists from the late 70s into the 80s—art forms like hip-hop and the New York culture. Certain styles speak to me and I start to create. That involves acrylic paint, spray paint, oils, pastels, and collage. I’ve started to incorporate screen printing. It’s a constant journey. I think that’s what it means to be an artist— to constantly be curious and learning. My inspiration comes from reconnecting with my inner child. That’s my wish for anyone—to notice those moments when time just flies, like the moments you had as a child, just enjoying yourself playing in the world. 

Halim: I work with fashion, fine art, sonic vibrations, intuition, pain, joy, love, despair, film and paint and oil sticks, rain and coffee poetically, chaos and coherence. I work with wind, snow, wildfires, and tears of mothers mourning for sons slain before they became men from gun violence, and the anxiety of moms attempting to make sense of their sons being shipped away for 150 years to prisons and cells and dungeons that they would not dare to even imagine. I work with hip-hop, bebop, dope boys that sell bricks of cocaine and venture capitalists that live for the art of the deal. I create hoodies, music, comedy, paintings, prints, drawings, poetry and documentaries from a deep loving intention in spite of the void of love that seems to consume a nation fueled by domination. Still, I rise, create, and dare to love, unconditionally.

Clarence: My studio is like a vortex. I compare it to a spaceship or time machine. All the time spent here is multiplied. The vibe is chilled-out mad scientist—letting my inhibitions and ego melt away, and zoning in on a pure intention. Becoming a channel for God’s will, and letting that flow into the artwork I make. Once I lock in my mission, it’s about maximizing my unique perspective of life—my sense of humor or what I think is cool or looks good. All of those things together kind of equal the art I make.

Halim: I create in jail cells, penthouses, mansions in Beverly Hills and Yellowstone Club in Big Sky Montana, on the block, in project housing, community centers in South Central, LA to Southeast, DC, in Midtown Manhattan to Montgomery, Alabama, at museums dedicated to the history of lynchings in the Deep South. I create in hotels from Hudson Yards to the shores of Brazil, from my garage in my home, airplanes, Acela trains. Anywhere that I find myself and my soul with the intention to manifest anything of love in the service of humanity, I will convert that space into my studio. Prison taught me to convert a tiny cell into a place of prayer, recreation, gymnasium, and rest. Everything grows from a cell.

Halim: I remember reading about Jean-Michel Basquiat and being annoyed by his being labeled a “Black” artist. I did not understand it at the time, but now I think I get it. I realized that “Black” is a generic construct. While still being grounded in my identity as a human being whose ancestors were brought to America through the institution of chattel property slavery, I can articulate my experience in a visual language that deconstructs the inhumane social engineering of “Black,” while sharing the beautiful cultural contributions of African people in America, and my place in it as a cultural engineer.

With that understanding of what it means to be Black, I can look back into the catalog of African artistic expressions in the American experience—from Negro spirituals, bebop jazz, rock & roll, the blues, rhythm & blues, and rap/hip-hop, and recognize the impact of these contributions to global culture. I can share my visual language, with the knowledge that what the world identifies as “Black Art” has always been a cosmopolitan contribution from the shores of North America to the hearts and souls of every continent in our spinning planet. 

What lasting impression do you hope your work leaves on people?

Clarence: Of course, everyone wants to be remembered in glory. We seem to be pretty occupied with what we’re doing and seem to think it’s so important, but I don’t know sometimes. My career dream is to make artwork that is entered into the canon of human history in a way that it is always accessible to people. My lasting impression? I want people to think of me like, He lived. He was alive. And he didn’t GAF. 

To hear more from these amazing artists, RSVP now for the free opening reception on Feb. 5. You can also come and view Halim and Clarence’s artwork on display at ART DC through March. ART DC is open Wednesday through Sunday nights from 5pm (closed on Tuesdays).