[1] Clifford Owens attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC),[2] then transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, from which he graduated with a BFA in 1998.
He received his MFA in 2000 from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 2000, and participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program in 2001.
[4] In his solo exhibition Anthology at MoMA PS1, Owens performed instructional scores submitted by black artists that he had invited to participate.
[5] One score written by artist Kara Walker, was withdrawn by her while the exhibition was on view but was performed by Owens three times at MoMA PS1.
His group exhibitions include "Distillation" in Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden (2003), "One Minute More" at The Kitchen, New York, NY.