FRANCESCO CLEMENTE: THE NOMADIC ARTIST BETWEEN SPIRIT AND MATTER

It was 1979 when the young poet Achille Bonito Oliva used, for the first time on the pages of Flash Art, the term “transavanguardia “, thus defining the work of five young painters - Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria and Mimmo Paladino. This movement burst into the artistic system, overturning the intellectual and aesthetic dogmas of conceptual art, imposing itself with great pictorial works with a strong neo-expressionist matrix.

Among this talented progeny of authors the one most fascinated by the world was Francesco Clemente, who decided to make nomadism a way of life, choosing New York and its burgeoning cultural scene in the wake of Warhol as his base. Clemente has become a central figure in the world of contemporary art for his ability to intertwine cultures like no other, crossing geographical, cultural and artistic borders, esulting in a poetics in which human wandering, introspection and spirituality merge into a formal unicum.

WHO IS FRANCESCO CLEMENTE?

Born in Naples, beginning in his adolescent years he was interested in the versatility of languages that he deepens in Rome, studying architecture, where he comes into contact with artists such as Luigi Ontani, Cy Twombly and Alighieri Boetti, with whom he leaves for his first trip to Afghanistan. Afterwards will follow India, a country that, with its traditions, colors and beliefs, radically changes his path and thought. Between 1976 and 1977, he assiduously attends the Theosophical Society of Madras, deepening his knowledge of religious texts and Hindu philosophy. 1979 will however mark a radical turning point for him; the overwhelming success of the Transavanguardia consecrates him to the world as one of the most promising young painters. His works portray a subjective depth, self- portraits with penetrating eyes, changing bodies, archaic symbols and fluid colors compose organic scenarios aimed at praising the most hidden nature of one’s self.