Clark Richert grew up in Wichita, Kansas, in a family of mathematicians and scientists. In High School he felt he was destined for a career in science, when he discovered Abstract Expressionism and realized that he would be an artist.

Clark and Gene Bernofsky met as students at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where they staged the first "droppings," conceptual artworks that included objects that were dropped from the roof of a loft space onto the street below. Clark currently is a professor in  the Painting Program at the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in Denver, Colorado.  His work has been exhibited throughout the country.