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Francesco Clemente

Paintings 2000–2003

September 27–November 8, 2003
Beverly Hills

Francesco Clemente, Something I Heard II, 2002 Oil on linen, 76 × 84 ½ inches (193 × 214.6 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Something I Heard II, 2002

Oil on linen, 76 × 84 ½ inches (193 × 214.6 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Bedroom Painting, 2002 Oil on linen, 70 × 84 inches (177.8 × 213.4 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Bedroom Painting, 2002

Oil on linen, 70 × 84 inches (177.8 × 213.4 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Liberation Self Portrait, 2000 Mixed media on denim, 169 1/3 × 174 inches (430.1 × 442cm)

Francesco Clemente, Liberation Self Portrait, 2000

Mixed media on denim, 169 1/3 × 174 inches (430.1 × 442cm)

Francesco Clemente, Principles of the Path, 2001 Fresco, Triptych: 118 × 236 inches overall (299.7 × 599.4 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Principles of the Path, 2001

Fresco, Triptych: 118 × 236 inches overall (299.7 × 599.4 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Passion Play II, 2001 Oil on linen, Diptych: 104 × 104 inches each panel (264.2 × 264.2 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Passion Play II, 2001

Oil on linen, Diptych: 104 × 104 inches each panel (264.2 × 264.2 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Untitled, 2003 Oil on linen, 26 × 38 inches (66 × 96.5 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Untitled, 2003

Oil on linen, 26 × 38 inches (66 × 96.5 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Season, 2001 Watercolor on paper, 14 × 19 ⅞ inches (35.6 × 50.5 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Season, 2001

Watercolor on paper, 14 × 19 ⅞ inches (35.6 × 50.5 cm)

About

Reception for the artist: Saturday, September 27, 2003, 6–8 PM

The Los Angeles Gagosian Gallery is pleased to announce the second part of a two-venue exhibition of new paintings by Francesco Clemente; the first of which was at the Gagosian Chelsea space this past spring. The exhibition will be comprised of works spanning the years 2000 to 2003 in which the artist incorporates different techniques such as oil on linen, monumental tempera paintings on denim and frescoes on plaster panels. This is Clemente's first exhibition in Los Angeles since his 1996 exhibition at Gagosian Gallery.

Most provocative in the various series of paintings brought together in this exhibition is the near elimination of the human figure, a motif that has been a signature element in Clemente's past oeuvre. The paintings are infused with a sense of loss, a stoic gratitude and a poetic depiction of time's passage. As Clemente has said in a recent interview, "The nature of painting is to redeem an undercurrent of sadness."

"Clemente, a painter with a Baudelairean poetic sensibility, parries the shocks of ongoing modernity in these paintings…A wanderer throughout cultures ancient and modern, he is acutely conscious of the evanescence of human triumph and human folly".
-David Rimanelli, The Haunting

A fully illustrated catalogue, including an essay by David Rimanelli accompanies the exhibition.