It’s in the Eyes

Many of Francesco Clemente’s best-known contemporaries—think Julian Schnabel, David Salle, or Fran Lebowitz—were all-in on the New York scene as they ascended to fame in the 1980s. But Clemente, now 72,  always embraced a more itinerant path in seeing out his creative evolution. The itch to travel the world, he says, dates back to his early teens growing up in Naples. “When I was 14, I wanted to get out,” he admits, laughing. “Wherever I was, I wanted to be able to look back, to step out, to break the patterns that after a while condition your way of feeling.” 

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After studying in Rome, Clemente spent an extended period of time in South India and then a brief stint in California. He didn’t set foot in New York City for the first time until 1980—where, thanks to contacts like Philip Glass, and certainly not impeded by his easygoing charisma and piercing blue eyes, he was quickly lapped up by the art world’s elite.

Decades into a revered career, Clemente has unveiled “Summer Love in the Fall” showcasing a new body of work at Lévy Gorvy Dayan that pulls from his voyages to West Africa, Egypt, and India, which remains a favorite destination. Nodding to the rich art historical lineage tied to his native Italy, the artist has also revived his fresco-on-panel technique for just under half of the 23 new works on view, all completed between 2023 and 2024. At the same time, themes of love, duplicity, and self-discovery tap into broader autobiographical themes with universally relatable narratives. 

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“I've been traveling through painting for a while. I always like to think that what I did was not so much drawing a line, but rather weaving a textile,” says Clemente. “You know, weaving a cloth where you see one thread, and then it disappears, and then it emerges, and then it disappears. I'm never too aware of which thread is coming to the surface, but I will notice it later.”

Clemente’s relatively muted palettes belie sensual dramas playing out across his compositions. Take Heart, 2024, which pictures two graphite-colored figures with intertwining limbs—a heart in the belly of one, and a scorpion in the other’s. Clemente explains that the symbols point to conflicting intentions between lovers. Other couples, as in Cloud, 2024—with one person cradling the other atop a white semi-circular mound—and Lotus, 2023—which pictures the silhouette of a couple in coitus at the center of an vast lotus flower (also the national flower of India)—embrace a more amorous tone.

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Masks are another key through-line across the show. “The great contemplative traditions, they all say the same thing—that we have a body but that we also have a divine body that we can connect with through means of contemplation, practice, and techniques,” Clemente says. “We wear a mask, but the mask is more real than the mask we wear in daily life. The mask we wear in daily life is not very useful. A mask within a ritual or tradition is useful, because it makes you free.”

In Pulcinella, 2024, the artist’s self-portrait holds a Pulcinella mask, referencing a plebeian character archetype stemming from the Neapolitan puppetry tradition that dates back to ancient Rome. Elsewhere, in Heimat, 2024, another self-portrait holds versions of the comedy/tragedy masks, nodding to the vocation of his longtime wife, Alba Primiceri. And in Africa, 2024, Clemente rendered himself wearing a Yaruban mask pulled up to the top of his head, revealing a quizzical expression to the viewer. 

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Clemente’s various self-portraits, featuring a gaze that’s often inscrutable but definitely penetrating, feel like the key to deciphering “Summer Love in the Fall.” Yet another instance appears to convey pure joy, or perhaps a sense of revelation, while embracing a vibrant neon palette to boot: In Fireworks, 2024, the artist shows himself from the shoulders up at the bottom of the composition, one hand on his chin, as he contemplates a shower of fireworks above him.

There’s no question that the enigmatic quality of his paintings is fundamental to their magnetism. “I think we should look for explanations only if explanations allow you to act,” he says. “Today, there is an explanation for everything, and there is a sense of powerlessness which is beyond measure. So an artist does not prescribe. He describes reality, with the hope that that reality offers diversion from this very mechanical cause and effect situation. Simply to offer something that maintains a measure of mystery, reminds the viewer that you don't need to explain everything.”

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‍“Francesco Clemente: Summer Love in the Fall” is on view through December 21, 2024, at Lévy Gorvy Dayan at 19 East 64th St, New York, NY 10065.

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