New monograph, documenting a large-scale installation that reflects the artist's dreamlike aesthetic, his ongoing exploration of notions of movement, transition and vulnerability, and mythological narratives, offering a rare glimpse into Clemente's forays into the field of
sculpture.
This richly illustrated volume documents
Watchtowers, Keys, Threads, Gates, Francesco Clemente's exhibition at Dallas Contemporary in 2019, curated by Peter Doroshenko. The large-scale installation presented there included a massive, site-specific
fresco and two series of sculptures realized in the artist's signature style. The overall dreamlike atmosphere was firmly in keeping with Clemente's aesthetics and imaginary.
Through the winding waves murals––realized with the help of three Oaxacan artists––and the bodies of the sculptures––created over the past five years in collaboration with artisans in India––Clemente constructed a labyrinth of patterns and resonances made up of the elements enumerated in the title. Visitors entered his mythological universe and experienced full immersion in his ongoing research on gesture, knowledge, transition, and color.
"I'm a painter by nature, almost biologically, but I'm also a painter by default, culturally, because I found out that a lot of what I want to convey to the world can only be told through image and not through words."—Francesco Clemente
The oeuvre of the Italian contemporary artist Francesco Clemente (born 1952, Napoli, lives and works in New York) spans over four decades and has achieved international acclaim. Clemente is a major figure of the
transavantgarde movement. Throughout the 1970s he exhibited works that reflected his interest in the contemplative traditions of India, where he lived for several years.
In 1981 Clemente moved to New York with his wife, Alba, and their four children. His paintings, drawings, prints and illustrated books were featured in shows at numerous international venues including the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1983); the Nationalgalerie, Berlin (1984); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1985); the Art Institute of Chicago (1987); and the Dia Center for the Arts, New York (1988).
Through the 1990s, surveys of his work were exhibited by the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1990); the Royal Academy of the Arts, London (1990); the Pompidou Center, Paris (1994); and the Sezon Museum, Tokyo (1994). In 1999/2000, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Guggenheim Bilbao organised a major retrospective of Clemente's work.
Predominantly interested in themes of both religion and spirituality, Clemente's work for the most part depicts both the human form (in its entirety or metamorphosing between human and animal) or symbolic motifs.
More recently, his works were exhibited by the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2004); The Rose Art Museum, Massachusetts (2004); Museo Maxxi, Rome (2006); Museo MADRE, Naples (2009); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2011), Uffizi Gallery, Florence (2011); Palazzo Sant'Elia, Palermo (2013) and The Rubin Museum of Art, New York (2014-2015).
He has participated in numerous collaborative projects, painting with Jean-Michel Basquiat and
Andy Warhol, and illuminating poetry by Robert Creeley, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners,
Rene Ricard and Derek Walcott. Clemente is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
