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Francesco Clemente

Paintings 2000–2003

May 9–June 21, 2003
555 West 24th Street, New York

Francesco Clemente, House of Cards, 2001 Oil on linen, 68 × 60 ½ inches (172.7 × 153.7 cm)

Francesco Clemente, House of Cards, 2001

Oil on linen, 68 × 60 ½ inches (172.7 × 153.7 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Pieta, 2003 Oil on linen, 60 × 80 inches (152.4 × 203.2 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Pieta, 2003

Oil on linen, 60 × 80 inches (152.4 × 203.2 cm)

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

Francesco Clemente, Passion Play I, 2001

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

Francesco Clemente, Earth and Sky, 2000 Oil on linen, 84 × 168 inches (213.4 × 426.7 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Earth and Sky, 2000

Oil on linen, 84 × 168 inches (213.4 × 426.7 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Portrait of a Woman, 2003 Oil on linen, 40 × 30 inches (101.6 × 76.2 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Portrait of a Woman, 2003

Oil on linen, 40 × 30 inches (101.6 × 76.2 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Three Kings, 2002 Fresco, Triptych: 118 × 236 inches overall (300 × 600 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Three Kings, 2002

Fresco, Triptych: 118 × 236 inches overall (300 × 600 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Sacrificial Self Portrait, 2000 Mixed media on denim, 206 2/3 × 178 ¾ inches (524.9 × 454 cm)

Francesco Clemente, Sacrificial Self Portrait, 2000

Mixed media on denim, 206 2/3 × 178 ¾ inches (524.9 × 454 cm)

About

Reception for the artist: Friday, May 9, 2003, 6–8 PM

Gagosian Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Francesco Clemente. The exhibition will be comprised of works from various series incorporating different techniques including oil on linen, monumental tempera paintings on denim cotton and frescoes on plaster panels. This is Francesco Clemente's first exhibition in New York since his retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in 1999.

Most provocative in the various series of paintings brought together in this exhibition is the near elimination of the human figure, a motif which has been such a signature element in Clemente's previous works. 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".

David Rimanelli has written in the catalogue essay:

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