In Paris last week I stopped by�Galerie Templon near the Centre Pompidou to see Francesco Clemente’s charming new paintings. An Italian artist who travels between�New York,�Rome, New Mexico and India, Clemente�was one of the painters involved in the�rebirth of figurative painting and the movement known as�Neo-Expressionism�during the 1980s.��
The�36 small paintings�in the exhibition, accompanied by a plaster sculpture and 2 frescos, explore love and loss.�Their power hinges on Clemente’s�fearless paint handling and matte,�layered surfaces, rather than�complex ideas or imagery. In a recent interview in the Huff Po, he�lamented that so much art today is neutral and academic, rooted in ideas rather than experience. For Clemente, art is informed by�life–not research, politics, or post-structuralist theory. In terms of style, he�prefers to give�himself the�freedom to explore diverse approaches.
It was my intention from the beginning to not anchor myself to a particular solution, or a particular style. At the same time, that is my strength because it means that everything I do is fresh, and my weakness because I am constantly beginning, which means that I never know what I am doing. Also, the goal of my work is to remind the viewer of the necessity to be fluid, to be in a constant state of transformation…
My paintings are tied to the changes in my life and they�re tied to a sense of synchronicity. I�m a believer in synchronicity. You know, the simplest example of synchronicity is when you think of someone and then you turn the corner and you see that person. I am very much in touch with that kind of resonance and symmetry in life, where things don�t happen on their own, they happen in clusters. They all bounce against each other. I�m a listener… I listen to the harmony of life and I translate that in my paintings.
“Francesco Clemente: Pirate Heart.” Galerie Templon, Paris, �le-de-France, France. Through December 23, 2016.
Related posts:
Neo-Neo-Expressionism?
Video: Julian Schnabel, painting en plein air
I love what Clemente says here. I happen to agree with him completely that current work is dragged down by thinking. I like the bumper sticker, ‘don’t always believe what you think’.
I also love that he is not branded and starts new all the time. But…these pieces are not that great. His older work was quite special.
Francesco, please help me out, am I missing something?
I agree his early work was much better, magical in fact.
Sometimes Clemente will slip into “Paintings for the children room” – almost self parody, but then he will come back with a series of watercolors that will blow you away…. He HAS stated that the strong and the weak lines co-exists, so we must take this lows along with his highs.