Books & Media
These books are out of print but available from used book sellers and in Amazon Kindle format (In the Shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Creative Recycling and the New Annals of Staten Island). New hard copies of Creative Recycling may be obtained directly from the print-on-demand publisher Xlibris.
This story, told in great, vignettic gulps of time from childhood to adulthood, is a true story, part memoir, part historical commentary – a Black man’s voice over seven decades. Cleve has written about his search to find that elusive “Gold Ring,” his place on his island and in his less-than-perfect world. It is a commentary on the historical gaps and inaccuracies of an island community and its social issues, of how the author coped with systemic racism and managed to make the system work for him. The author’s rage and frustration were channeled into artistic pursuits and writings, bringing this story into the light from a darkened box of oblivion. The niche he found himself in, Staten Island, remains a microcosm of American Society, and his experiences will be familiar to many Black American men. His life-lessons offer food for thought for Americans everywhere, Black or White.
A book of essays based on the author’s musings, memories, historical research and observations, admittedly biased and alternately angry, amused, bitter, sad, reflective and inventive. They cover the period from the 1700’s to the present time, and are solely focused on the place of his birth, Staten Island, NY. The author developed a frustrating obsession with Staten Island, which he often referred to as “Struggle Island,” and wrote these essays after publishing his memoir, “In the Shadow of the Statue of Liberty.”
Cleve wrote of this book:There is a message here, I am sure. I do hope to change people’s minds. Not being able to be polite or courteous, or even reasonable; anger pulses through this bewildering cast of characters, fictional and real. Being a Black man, my rage and despair accumulate with nowhere to go. Nelson Mandela said, “If you don’t leave the bitterness behind, you will still be in prison.” Even though racism intrudes on everything, I will continue to write.
This photographic book illustrates the creativity the ingenuity and imagination of Senegalese artists and craftspeople and celebrates the variety of handcrafted doors throughout the country. Senegal was the embarkation point, through the infamous “Door of No Return” on Gorée Island, for hundreds of thousands of slaves taken to the New World from Africa. The Senegalese people are resourceful, talented and resilient, and they readily open their doors to visitors, offering hospitality and friendship. Most of the photographs of the handmade doors in Dakar, St. Louis, Thiès and Gorée Island were taken by the authors when they lived and worked in Senegal (1991 – 1993).
This photographic book documents a delightful collection of handmade miniature vehicles, boats and planes made from discarded and recycled material in Africa and purchased in at least 20 different countries between 1985 and 2003. They range from rudimentary to amazingly sophisticated. The collection has educational, cultural and environmental aspects, and the pieces showcase the imagination and ingenuity of African children and craftsmen. Authors Jude Andreasen and Cleve Overton spent eight years working and living in African countries. The collection is currently owned by Mimi Wolford, Director of the Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art in Washington, DC.
This is a fictional, mostly satirical composite of true events and real people that the author experienced and observed during the mid-Eighties in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The author, who spent his 91 years using his hands to create art, also felt called to tell the stories in his head and release the memories, characters, visions, and dreams swirling in his brain since the first day he set foot on the continent, Niger in 1983.
The New York Times
The Northshore Staten Island Newsletter “Perspective in Blacks: Clarence Overton – Involved with life July 1970
The Staten Island Advance “Youngsters watch sculptor Clarence Overton at work” August 25, 1969
“Study unearth’s black’s Island history” September 30, 1973
“Author urges blacks to become more politically active” March 1, 2007
Conspicuous Assumption SI Advance” April 29, 1969
Island Author Paints Our Racial Picture – February 5, 2007
Restoration stirs racial debate SI Advance June 21, 2000
Massachusetts Sentinel & Enterprise “Exhibit Focuses on 9/11” pages 1 and 3, September 13, 2002
Washington DC City Paper
6/20/03″Transformer Man DC City Paper”
4/28/06 “Borough Deeper re Cleve”
The Washington Post 10/15/07, “Scene and Heard”
Ceramics Monthly “Ceramic Art in Senegal” March 1996
S.I. Council on the Arts Newsletter “Steve Nutt, Potter Nov – Dec 2001
Transitions & Transformations
Awards
In September 2008, Cleve celebrated his 80 full years with about 80 friends and their children, from all corners of the U.S., at the home of artist Harriet and Phil Lesser in Maryland.
Cleve’s largest and last solo show, a retrospective which included 33 works in various media.
This series was a collaboration by Cleve with well-known artist Harriet Lesser at Parrish Gallery, 9/2010, Washington, DC. It highlights one classic method of surveillance, the tower, to raise awareness of that delicate balance between privacy and security. It includes representations of towers used throughout history in prison camps, refugee camps, dividing cities and countries, war zones and even the detention centers for the Japanese in the U.S. during WW II.
Cleve was approached by the filmmakers to play the role of a wise old man. The film was submitted to Sundance as a short in 2003 by Astrid Dick.