Italian painter Francesco Clemente came to prominence in the mid-1970s with vivid paintings rife with erotic imagery of mutilated body parts, gesturing amorphous figures often depicted in rich colors, as well as a series of contorted self-portraits. Fascinated with Indian art and mysticism, his gouache paintings and pastel drawings are especially noted for their intense and arcane quasi-religious content that has grown increasingly surreal in his later works. Though large in scale, Clemente’s work often conveys an uncanny and unabashed intimacy. Involved in the revolt against formalism and the detached qualities of much Conceptual Art, Clemente has been compared to such painters as Georg Baselitz and David Salle.
Italian painter Francesco Clemente came to prominence in the mid-1970s with vivid paintings rife with erotic imagery of mutilated body parts, gesturing amorphous figures often depicted in rich colors, as well as a series of contorted self-portraits. Fascinated with Indian art and mysticism, his gouache paintings and pastel drawings are especially noted for their intense and arcane quasi-religious content that has grown increasingly surreal in his later works. Though large in scale, Clemente’s work often conveys an uncanny and unabashed intimacy. Involved in the revolt against formalism and the detached qualities of much Conceptual Art, Clemente has been compared to such painters as Georg Baselitz and David Salle.
