FRANCESCO CLEMENTE ANIMA NOMADE
Le sue opere si delineano in un paesaggio estetico totalizzante, metafisico e mistico,
cadenzato dalla rappresentazione del sé, spesso intrecciata a riferimenti erotici, sempre lirica ed
emotiva ed espressa attraverso un senso totalizzante del colore.
2024
Review by Beatrice
23 November 2024 – 30 March 2025
Palazzo Esposizioni Roma
curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
Starting 23 November 2024, Palazzo Esposizioni will be hosting “Francesco Clemente.
ANIMA NOMADE (Nomade Soul)”, the largest solo show dedicated to the artist ever staged
in Italy for the importance of the works on display, ranging from his astonishing Tents produced
between 2012 and 2014 to his series of large wall paintings realized on the museum’s walls
especially for the occasion.
The exhibition, promoted by Assessorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale
Palaexpo, produced and organised by Azienda Speciale Palaexpo and curated by Bartolomeo
Pietromarchi, has been devised to resemble a large installation that seamlessly unfolds in the
exhibition galleries on the first floor of Palazzo Esposizioni, comprising three groups of works: the
six Tents, the twelve Flags and the wall painting cycle entitled Ocean of Stories.
The exhibition immerses visitors in the India and Oriental tradition that has always been a source
of inspiration for Francesco Clemente, enveloping them in a fabric dense with iconographical
references and the private, diary-like sensitivity of his works.
Born in Naples but a nomad by calling, strongly influenced by literature and poetry, Clemente is
a fully-fledged poet with a vast vocabulary of symbolic and metaphorical images. His works are
declined in an all-embracing aesthetic landscape, at once metaphysical and mystical, cadenced
by the representation of self, often entangled with erotic references, always lyrical and emotional
and always expressed through an all-encompassing sense of colour.
His tents, inspired by Upanishad and Buddhist philosophy, embody the spirit of a wandering
existence and represent “shelters for nomads”. Clemente describes them as “the result of many
disparate threads that have become interwoven in my mind over the years” – the symbol of a
wanderer’s life chosen to escape a single, linear vision of history and to embrace a global
geography. The tents, with their walls painted with luminous tempera colours, conjure up
imaginary worlds and echo sacred sites such as the Mogao Caves, or Thousand Buddha
Grottoes, in Dunhuang, China, or the Ajanta and Ellora Caves in India, spaces for meditation that
have made a deep mark on the artist’s cultural memory. Each tent – from the Angels’s Tent to the
Pepper Tent – is an interior world rich in symbols, memories and reflections stratified over time.
The twelve Flags facing each other, suspended aloft to form a corridor to be passed through, are
painted on both sides: on one side they bear symbolic yet recognisable figures, on the other,
enigmatic aphorisms embroidered in gold. Both sides appear to be individual works, polarities of
paint and lettering yet which merge with one another in their separation, like light and shade.
And finally, the wall painting cycle entitled An Ocean of Stories, produced on site for the occasion,
ideally opens and closes the exhibition, bringing together all the experiences in a slender,
unbroken line that suggests an ongoing, circular narrative. Thus Clemente recreates an imaginaryjourney in which each element, from colour to line, reflects the essence of a wandering soul in
endless movement.
EXHIBITION PATHWAY
STANDING WITH TRUTH TENT
The Standing With Truth Tent intertwines heterogenous images, merging intuitive perceptions of
daily life with mythological references and deep-seated visual memories. Nets, webs,
honeycomb-shaped hearts, suspended spiders, embracing couples, lizards and moths are just
some of the most evocative motifs in the artist’s rich, symbolic vocabulary. The tent’s name is
inspired by an aphorism from 15th-century Indian mystic Kabir, who described the body as a
vehicle for connection with the absolute: “I sit with truth, I rise with truth, I lie down with truth.”
According to this principle, the body is conceived as a tangible presence. Rather than a metaphor,
it is a reality to be taken literally: bodily experience transcends material limits to approach a
dimension of profound and transformative truth. The body is thus transformed from a merely
physical, conditioned entity into an echo of forgotten desires, reflecting all unconscious aspirations
in which we “spiritualize matter and materialize spirit”.
Clemente views truth as inherently unstable and mutable. It is never fixed, always in
transformation, and always elusive. This idea permeates his work, weaving together everyday
perceptions and mythological memories to form a symbolic and intuitive language emergent in its
purest form.
Standing with Truth Tent, 2013-2014
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Collection of the artist
PEPPER TENT
The Pepper Tent is inspired by the Kerala region and the idea of travel. Long known for pepper
production, this coastal state in southern India has historically served as a commercial
crossroads, long ago forging maritime links with ancient civilizations. The painted interior evokes
the deep green and blue of tropical lands, steeped in historical memory and hidden marine
archaeology. A tapestry-like, grey-blue wave motif is dotted with splashes of colour representing
the land and lush vegetation; pepper plants intertwine throughout the landscape.
Vibrant images fill the tent: a large, open palm holding peppercorns, vine-entwined couples, boats
laden with frangipani floating on an ocean, and a shipwreck resting in a female figure’s lap. These
sensual and mysterious details evoke the ancient legend of the now-submerged port of Muziris.
The exterior walls are adorned with pink, ochre, light blue and white waves, along with open palms
embroidered in grey. Symbols of a floating eye, a pierced heart and falling peppercorns decorate
each palm. The final theme to emerge is a shipwreck metaphor: having lost all certainties about
the journey, all that remains is to rest on the shore, contemplating the wreckage of one’s own
securities.
Pepper Tent, 2013-2014
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Collection of the artist
DEVIL’S TENT
Combining medieval and contemporary symbols, the Devil’s Tent explores the themes of power
and corruption through the imagery of diabolical figures. Medieval manuscript-inspired demon
masks frame the exterior; inside the tent, the artist depicts louche-looking dandies and pimps,elegantly attired in tuxedos, top hats, monocles, and cigars. These figures bring to mind Eshu, an
Afro-Brazilian deity of Yoruba origin, portrayed as a sinister gentleman roaming Mangueira, the
former slave market in Rio de Janeiro. Rich in the symbolism of sexuality and power, these
depictions portray a distorted reality: a dandy engages with an ithyphallic man, while a naked
woman caresses the globe-shaped belly of another man, symbol of desire for domination. An
elegant gentleman leads a naked couple on all fours, pulling them by a chain around their necks;
smoke rises from his cigarette, outlining Africa and symbolizing the colonial legacy. In one corner,
a woodland figure covered in branches and twigs is tethered by an ankle to the “devil” in a top
hat, symbol of deceit and power. The “devil” in these images embodies the archetype of the
unconscious and, reminiscent of the tarot figure, holds an inverted torch. In this tent, the artist
suggests that, rather than rational will and the illusion of power it creates, subterranean forces
often beyond our knowledge are the true drivers of our lives. The work encourages us to
acknowledge that our sense of control is illusory; that embracing these unconscious forces can
lead to a new awareness, reconnecting us to our most authentic and natural essence.
As the artist states, it is “the force that, by inverting the sense of light, illuminates the darkness of
our most hidden and clandestine desires, the ones that imprison us until we get to know them”.
Devil’s Tent, 2013-2014
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Collection of the artist
TAKING REFUGE TENT
Inside the Taking Refuge Tent, almost monochromatic figures dominate an atmosphere of calm
and sacrality. Large therianthropic figures – beings with the heads of fierce animals and the bodies
of a saintly being – sit in meditative lotus position, cradling meek animals in their laps as if to
protect them, clad in white as a sign of faith and renunciation. The scene illustrates harmony
between predator and prey, as well as finding mutual refuge in the Buddha. Far from an idealistic
vision of peace and an apparent reconciliation of opposites, the artist suggests a latent tension,
a possible sense of apprehension and alienation within the tent’s dark space. The outside of the
tent is emblazoned with fragments of a seminal Buddhist text, beginning with a declaration of
refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, the White Tara (and the White Tara mandala). In
other words, refuge may be found in spiritual guidance, community, law, and the goddess of
compassion. The artist questions how, while acknowledging the comfort of believing in such
refuge, we may reconcile our compassionate nature with the ferocity of predators, wolves, and
wild beasts. The theme in the Taking Refuge Tent echoes Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film The Hawks
and the Sparrows, in which Saint Francis converts hawks and sparrows to the love of God until
one converted hawk kills a sparrow, because such is the nature of the hawks and the plight of the
sparrows.
Taking Refuge Tent, 2012-2013
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Courtesy Dib Bangkok
FLAGS - THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE
Twelve triangular flags hang individually on poles, facing one another as they jut out from the wall
at regular intervals. The aerial corridor they create invites viewers to look upwards as they traverse
the white room. The artist conceived and worked with local artisans in India to craft the flags,
skilfully weaving tradition and innovation together.
Each flag features a painting on both sides, akin to opposite sides of a coin. One side displays
images and faces, the other gold-embroidered aphorisms from Guy Debord’s famous book, TheSociety of the Spectacle. Translated here into a poetic, visual duality, the aphorisms comment the
separation between art and life, reality and representation, and late capitalism’s drift towards the
ephemeral and superficial. Each side is an autonomous work, opposite poles of painting and
writing intertwined in inseparable dialogue akin to the meeting of light and shadow. The installation
celebrates signs as living matter, elevated here as a yardstick for the world. Invited to explore the
delicate imaginary thread linking the two sides, visitors experience a unified, complex and elusive
work.
Flags – The Society of the Spectacle, 2014
Collage, tie dye, embroidery, paint on fabric, bamboo
Variable dimensions
Collection of the artist
MUSEUM TENT
In the Museum Tent, Clemente delves into one of his recurring themes: the self-portrait. Painted
on coloured walls under a black-and-white ceiling, these portraits feature images depicting
cobras, turtles, hands and mandalas from the artist’s drawings, hand-printed in traditional block
printing technique and arranged in a museum-like order. Challenging the static nature of
portraiture, on the side panels Clemente paints himself in sumptuous and baroque frames from
the classical tradition. Unconfined by the frame’s borders, evading any temptation to rigidly define
himself, we see him confronting a tiger, catching a fish outside the frame, anointing himself with
smoke, and dangling with his tongue sticking out.
Salman Rushdie remarked that Clemente’s self-portraits explore an identity under constant
transformation. The artist moves between different worlds and temporarily absorbs different
identities. Revealing multiple visions of self, these performative, chameleonic self-portraits
challenge the notion of the self-portrait as a fixed or singular image. Symbolizing museal
crystallization, painted images of museums Clemente cherishes – including the Kimbell Museum
in Fort Worth, the Mauritshuis in The Hague and MADRE in Naples – adorn the tent’s exterior
walls.
Museum Tent, 2013-2014
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Collection of the artist
ANGELS’ TENT
The Angels’ Tent beckons us into a tranquil and poetic setting where the artist’s imagination brings
celestial figures to life. Angels are a motif that frequently appears in Clemente’s work, emerging
out of personal memories and iconographic visions, and presented in vivid and surprising forms.
Paintings of angels male and female decorate the tent’s inner walls and ceiling, depicted in
relaxed and almost earthly poses. Some angels have part of their wings clipped; others seem to
hover mid-air, beneath celestial parasols and luminous rainbows. Affected by desire and suffering,
their bodies hint at a descent into human temptation and emotion. A faintly traced serpent beneath
each angel alludes to John Milton’s serpentine Satan in Paradise Lost. The figures and images
evoke cultural and literary references ranging from the art of William Blake and Johann Heinrich
Füssli to Persian miniatures, tarot cards and traditional Indian postcards. Another reference is
Walter Benjamin’s Angelus Novus, observing the ruins of history without turning to the light,
caught between awe and horror, evoking a vision of angelic weariness and decay, and an image
of celestial detachment and melancholia. The artist conceived the design for the tent’s exterior in
blue, brown and beige camouflage fabric, resulting in a deceptive, shape-shifting effect. This is
enlivened by a “chimeric” network of motifs hand-printed in black and white using the traditionalblock printing technique, along with hearts, clubs, and spades that blend and transform into
sensual tangles of forests populated by birds, skeletons and couples.
Twelve coloured images of archangels appear on the outer walls, set in keyhole-shaped slots
to suggest that, even if a guardian angel allows us to take a peek inside, paradise is still
inaccessible.
Angels’ Tent, 2013-2014
Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights,
600 x 400 x 300 cm
Collection of the artist
WALL PAINTINGS – OCEAN OF STORIES
Painted onto the museum’s walls for the exhibition, these wall paintings form part of the artist’s
Ocean of Stories series. He initially created the series in Beijing to evoke the idea of water, a
central element in Chinese culture, sometimes present in symbolic or “petrified” form. The work’s
deep “ox-blood” red colour (known in America as “Indian Red”) conjures a connection to the land
and historical memory, recalling traditional American, red-painted barns and the tragic history of
the indigenous peoples who were deported and exterminated in Oklahoma.
The wall painting’s execution adheres to a strict protocol: artists draw an outline in sanguine that
leaves no scope for errors or “pentimenti”. The outline is then filled in with waves of ox-blood red,
the motif never touching the perimeter. This collective effort brings this work to life, many hands
gradually shading the colour from lighter to darker hues.
Monumental yet ephemeral pieces, their fate is to be erased at the end the exhibition. Part of a
cycle of creation and dissolution, they reflect the fleeting nature of memory and the transitory
essence of art.
Wall Paintings - Ocean of Stories, 2024
Sanguine and tempera on wall
BIOGRAPHY
FRANCESCO CLEMENTE
Having crossed geographies, cultures and different modes of expression, Francesco Clemente
embodies the figure of the wandering artist par excellence.
In the course of his career he has used oil painting, fresco, encaustic painting, pastel and
watercolour, and devoted time and energy to sculpture. In the 1970s Clemente fostered the return
to painting as a significant means of expression.
The artist, who has found inspiration in oriental philosophical, spiritual and aesthetic tradition,
depicts in his works a fragmentary ego and figures constantly changing amid different worlds, the
material and the spiritual, the male and the female, that aspire to forms of reconciliation.
Before establishing his studio in New York in 1980, Clemente lived in India, devoting his energy
to the study of Sanskrit and Hindu and Buddhist literature in the library of the Theosophical Society
in the city of Chennai.
In New York he has worked with poets such as Ginsberg and Robert Creeley, and with artists of
the caliber of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. In conjunction with Raymond Foye, he
established a publishing company named Hanuman Books and has also become a member of
the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
His work is on display in many prestigious museums throughout the world, including the Art
Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao and New York, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the
Museum of Modern Art in New York. Clemente lives and works between New York and India.Press material can be downloaded at the following link:
https://www.palazzoesposizioniroma.it/pagina/francesco-clemente-anima-nomade-
stampa
INFORMATION
Palazzo Esposizioni Roma
Roma, via Nazionale, 194
www.palazzoesposizioniroma.it
Facebook: @PalazzoEsposizioni | Instagram: @palazzoesposizioni | Twitter: @Esposizioni
TITLE
ANIMA NOMADE
Francesco Clemente
CURATED BY
Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
RUNS FROM
23 November 2024 to 30 March 2025
PROMOTED BY
Assessorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo
PRODUCED AND ORGANISED BY
Azienda Speciale Palaexpo
CATALOGUE
Electa
MEDIA PARTNER
Grandi Stazioni Retail; Dimensione Suono Soft
TECHNICAL SPONSOR
CoopCulture
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Krumiri
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Admission free for children aged 6 and under.
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to closing time).
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