T. I. F. Stories
By Tatsumi Shinoda (Selection Director for Tokyo International Forum Artwork)
Artworks Gathered in "Ship of Diversity" 15
Richmond Burton
It was during the early 1980s when Clemente gathered the world's attention as a painter in representational neo-expressionism.
Clemente was called one of the 3Cs, together with Enzo Cucchi and Sandro Chia, who are in the same category, but he painted the boldest pictures, full of imagination. The mixed cultures of Napoli, where he was brought up, New York, where he lives and Madras of India may deeply relate to his boldness and imagination.
His attitude toward painting was totally in sync with "diversity," the concept of the artwork.
Clemente'
s pictures displayed at the Tokyo International Forum are a combination of 3 pictures, and the picture of the human head draws the most attention. The human face is a special one.
In the same way, Clemente's representational work is unusual for a huge room of the Tokyo International Forum which might have presented a cold image without his pictures.
Let's see the ambiguity appearing in his pictures. You don't know whether the person is male, female, Asian or Micronesian. Swirling stars are painted, but you don't know whether it is at night or in the daytime. Scissors are painted, but you don't know whether it is outside or indoors. The entire picture is expressed as a phantasm, ignoring the common sense of the size and opacity.
This work was completed as a tapestry combining 3 pictures, which was woven in Mexico. Tapestries have a sound-absorbing effect in a room.
Clemente's works are said to be orifice-like. This means that the eyes, nose and mouth, which are holes, become the gateway to the universe of imagination.
I once visited him in New York to ask him for painting. His atelier was in an old building located on Broadway Street. After finishing a discussion, we went to a soba restaurant which was very popular. It was a soba shop which had branched out from Tokyo into the town of art, and its interior was quite simple.
Clemente ordered in Japanese, saying "Nameko Oroshi Soba." He told me it was like Italian fresh pasta. At this time, I recalled Clemente's orifice-like pictures where mixed cultures come and go.
| Location: Hall D5 on 5F, D Block |
Photo: Sadamu Saito
"Ship of Diversity" = Artwork Collection Concept of the Tokyo International Forum
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