A Kent gallery will be the first in Europe to celebrate the work of pioneering artist Ed Clark.

Turner Contemporary, Margate’s free art gallery, will open its summer exhibition dedicated to the work of the expressionist painter over the bank holiday weekend.

The gallery will be home to the first institutional Ed Clark exhibition in Europe until September, showcasing some of the artist’s finest work.

Born in New Orleans in the 1920s, the African-American artist began his career as a painter after leaving the military and enrolling in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1946.

Despite being one of the most innovative artists of his time, most notably through his unique push broom technique and shaped canvases, his work was not recognised until several decades later.

Now, a number of pieces by the abstract artist will be proudly displayed in the seafront gallery, including works on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum and Detroit Institute of Arts.

This will be the first time that some of these loans have been displayed outside of the States.

During his lifetime, Clark achieved many milestones that now see him revered as a groundbreaking figure within American art.

In 1963, he co-founded the influential Brata Gallery in Manhattan's East Village and, 50 years later, in 2013, he was presented with the Art Institute of Chicago's Legends and Legacy Award.

The Margate exhibition will include Untitled 1970, an example of his oval-shaped canvases, Untitled from Louisiana Series 1978-80 and the Ife Rose 1974.

There will also be a selection of paintings from the mid-1980s to the 2000s where Clark used new compositions, such as sweeping rainbows and waves of colour, in his work.

The Ed Clark exhibition will be at Turner Contemporary from Saturday, May 25 to Sunday, September 1. Entry is free and there’s no need to book.