Gianfranco Gorgoni, Francesco Clemente and detail of General Animal (1984), Courtesy Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zurich

The work of Italian contemporary artist Francesco Clemente is as diverse in style and influence as the life of its creator.  Transcending traditional borders of culture, artistic movements, intellectual spheres and even medium, Clemente has developed a sense of decentered lexicality; his work standing as a testament to the synthesis of his personal travels and influences – among them, the artists he met and collaborated with in New York City in the 1980s. Portraits of the 1980s, currently on display in the Thomas Ammann Fine Art Gallery in Zurich until September 27, chronicles this engagement with New York’s intellectual and social community through a series of portraits, speaking to the friendships which both redefined Clemente’s own style and thrust him into the limelight of the international art scene. (more…)

Francesco Clemente, Mandala for Crusoe (Installation View), via Blain|Southern Gallery

For the first time in seven years, painter Francesco Clemente is having a show in London, titled “Mandala for Crusoe,” at Blain|Southern’s recently opened Hanover Square location. Born in Italy, Clemente divides his time between New York and Varanasi, a city on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India, and the works in this exhibition reflect this diverse international influence.

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All photos by Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer

The “Third and a half” Brucennial opened last night in New York City, the 2012 edition titled, “Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer.” At 159 Bleecker Street, the high-ceilinged art-filled space reached its capacity of 15,000—with a line around the block—shortly after opening its doors at 6 PM. Organized by the anonymous Bruce High Quality Foundation and Vito Schnabel, a large main room, balcony, and basement, were covered with paintings, sculptures, video-works, and other installations by artists both established and less so. Running the gamut from friends of the Bruces to a Damien Hirst spot painting, exhibiting artists of note include Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Reyle,  Francesco Clemente, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen, David Salle, George Condo, Rashid Johnson, Dash Snow,  Terence Koh,  Richard Prince, Joseph Beuys, Scott Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol (collaboration), and Dustin Yellin.

Francesco Clemente

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Yves Klein all photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed

This year marked the 2nd iteration of the House of the Nobleman, a privately sponsored exhibition which took place at the Boswall House, 15,000sqft  mansion at 2 Cornwall Terrace, overlooking Regent’s Park and the Frieze 2011 Art Fair.  Art Observed was on site for the private viewing.  On view were works by Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Peter Paul Rubens, Edgar Degas, Max Ernst,  Damien Hirst, Marlene Dumas, Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, Sigmar Polke, Christian Boltanski, Anish Kapoor, Nick Hornby, Matthew Day Jackson, Cecily Brown, Lucian Freud, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Longo, Alexander Calder, Eugenia Emets, Francesco Clemente, Salvador Dali,  Peter Doig,  Olafur Eliasson, George Condo, Takashi Murakami,  Hiroshi Sugimoto and Gerhard Richter.

Monet, Claude “ Chemin dans le brouillard”, (1879)

more images after the jump…

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Francesco Clemente, Name, 1983, all images via Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

Frankfurt’s Schirn Kunsthalle’s “Francesco Clemente. Palimpsest,” an exhibition of work by Francesco Celemente, is the first show of the artist’s work in Germany in over twenty-five years. “Palimpsest” exhibits works spanning thirty years of Clemente’s career, filling three galleries with large paintings as well as jewel-toned watercolors. The show is open through September 4th, 2011.

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Installation view of Rene Ricard’s “Sonnets from the Portuguese”. All images Ian Hassett for Art Observed.

AO was on-site for the opening of Rene Ricard‘s “Sonnets from the Portuguese,” presented by Vito Schnabel at the former Heidi Cho Gallery in Chelsea.  This is the artist’s first solo painting show in over twenty years, and features paintings overlaid with sharp, evocative poems written by Ricard. The show is entitled “Sonnets from the Portuguese” after a book by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and is meant to “show [his] affection for the city of Lisbon.” It features sixteen canvases painted in basic “poison” green with short poems, and larger works featuring images based on those culled from family photo albums of Ricard’s friends, similarly painted over with text.

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Francesco Clemente, Irons and Rainbows, 2010. © Francesco Clemente via Mary Boone Gallery

Francesco Clemente’s A Private Geography has entered it’s final week at the Fifth Avenue location of the Mary Boone Gallery.  The show consists of the artist’s most recent works on paper and is presented as a sampling of Clemente’s haunting meditations.

More story after the jump…

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Lucian Freud, Eight Months Gone, 199700–>

Jerry Hall, the American model and ex-wife of legendary rocker Mick Jagger, will send 14 works from her collection to auction next month at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Sale in London. Hall’s lots are estimated to fetch at least £1.5 million, and include works by Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol, Damian Hirst, Robert Graham, Ed Ruscha, Francesco Clemente, R.B. Kitaj, and Frank Auerbach.

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Rachel Garrard performing Geometric Void, in which she mapped the sacred geometry of a human form on a perspex window over the course of the six hour exhibition

Art Observed was on site July 24th for “Field of Dreams”, a D.I.Y. world’s fair of music and art, presented by Celebrate Brooklyn!, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, and Andres Levin.  The much-anticipated event took place at the Prospect Park band shell in Brooklyn, running from 4PM to 10PM. Music was a constant throughout the day, featuring a wide range of established and emerging acts alike, including standouts Pablo Picasso (who performed a second set, to great effect, at the Littlefield after-party), Les Nubians, and Luis Guzman.

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Performing band

Approximately forty installations were constructed in a semi-circle on the grassy knoll across from the band shell, representing both individual artists and creative collaborations.  In a nod to the synthesis of visual arts and musical performance which was the order of the day, Ray Smith created two massive canvases to adorn each side of the band shell stage.  Art Observed was able to speak with a few of the participating artists, who offered comments on their own work and its place in the show.

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Performers with a friend at  “Power Animal Pavillion,” which featured Power Animal wrestling.

more story, images and video after the jump…

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Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Oxidation Painting (in 12 parts), 1978. Acrylic and urine in linen, 48 x 49 in. (121.9 x 124.5 cm) All images courtesy of: © 2010 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum is ‘Andy Warhol: The Last Decade’, a survey of the artist’s works from the late 1970s until his death in 1987. The exhibition was organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and its tour schedule includes the Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Although Warhol is best known for his works from the 60s – soup cans, Marilyn Monroe portraits, and other iconic images that have become symbols of pop culture as a whole – but Warhol’s final decade was his most prolific. The 50 some works included in this show give a broad overview of the variety and scope of these late years. By the end of his career  the art community perceived Warhol as an overly eccentric washed-up artist. Over 20 years later, and with the benefit of hindsight, ‘The Last Decade’ proves that these final years gave rise to works worthy of both appreciation and admiration.

Andy Warhol Self-Portrait (Strangulation), 1978. Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, ten parts, 16 x 13 in. (40.6 x 33 cm) each.

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Installation view, Brucennial 2010: Miseducation (image courtesy of The New York Times)

Thought you missed your chance to see what the artist group known as the Bruce High Quality Foundation claims to be “the most important survey of contemporary art in the world. Ever.”? Fear not – the Brucennial 2010: Miseducation has been extended until May 22.

The exhibition’s opening in February was greeted with snow, but visitors were not deterred by the weather, and the entry line extended far beyond the block. Boasting to exhibit 420 artists from 911 countries working in 666 disciplines, the Brucennial 2010 is not to be missed. The BHQF, as they are called, were a highlight in this year’s Whitney Biennial. Their video installation piece entitled “We Like America and America Likes Us” featured a 22-minute video projected onto the hood of a white hearse.

We Like America and America Likes Us by Bruce High Quality Foundation

Along with celebrated artists the likes of David Salle, Francesco Clemente, Ron Gorchov, George Condo, Donald Baechler, James Nares, Rita Ackermann, and Julian Schnabel, hang works by younger artists without privileged connections. To make sense of the chaos, use, as your map, Hyperallergic’s piece-by-piece guide to the works in the exhibition.

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L: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (He entered shop after shop…), 2008 R: Eric Fischl, Rebirth I: (The Last View of Camiliano Cien Fuegos), 1986. All images courtesy of Haunch of Venison, New York.

On view at Haunch of Venison New York, until May 1, 2010, is “Your History Is Not Our History.” Organized by artists David Salle and Richard Phillips, this group show presents works produced in 1980s New York City.

Including works by Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Carroll Dunham, Eric Fischl, Robert Gober, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger,Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Malcolm Morley, Richard Prince, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Jenny Holzer, Phillip Taaffe, Terry Winters and Christopher Wool, this exhibition seeks to convey “a more accurate portrayal of the energy and experimentation that was permeating the city during that time,” says Phillips.

L: Christopher Wool, Untitled, 1988   C: Jeff Koons, Buster Keaton, 1988 R: Eric Fischl, The Old Man’s Boat & The Old Man’s Dog, 1981.

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Ron, Will Cotton via Artnet

-Eric Fischl, Chie Fueki, Hilary Harkness, Will Cotton, Francesco Clemente, Peter Halley and Barbara Kruger  are all a part of the long list of artists who have created, dedicated and portrayed Ron Warren in their works; Mary Boone’s assistant he has always played an understated yet influential role leading to a Mary Boone Gallery exhibition in his honor [The New York Times]

-The 2009 edition of the Power 100 by ArtReview is released with Hans Ulrich Obrist taking the first place and the list showcasing some changes in the influences and forces of the art world; the top ten include dealers and artists as Larry Gagosian, Francois Pinault, Eli Broad and Bruce Nauman [ArtReview]
-In related, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, the director of Serpentine Gallery, just voted to be the art world’s most powerful figure by the Power 100, gives an idea of how busy his week gets [The Independent]

-A $310 million collection of Mark Rothko paintings to be shown next spring in artist’s first Moscow solo exhibition at Dasha Zkukova’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture [Bloomberg]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)

Jenny Saville’s Hyphen, 1999, part of Paint Made Flesh at The Phillips Collection.

“Paint Made Flesh,” a series of 43 oil paintings that focus on the human body, is showing at The Phillips Collection through September 13.  Featured artists incude Pablo Picasso, Leon Golub, Ivan Albright, Cecily Brown, David Park, Philip Guston, and more.  “At times when figure painting was considered outdated,” comments Assistant Curator Renee Maurer, these and other artists included in the show “continue to explore the expressive potential of the painted human body.”

Related links:
Current Exhibitions at the Phillips Gallery
Paint Made Flesh
“Paint Made Flesh” Survey opens at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC [Art Knowledge News]
“Paint Made Flesh” Is More Than Skin-Deep [Washington Post]
“Paint Made Flesh” : Modern Bodies, Naked Eyes [NPR]

John Currin, Hobo (1999), via NPR.

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A sculpture of horses and a carriage at Versailles by Xavier Veilhan via artcollc

On September 13, Xavier Veilhan will follow in Jeff Koons’s footsteps by bringing contemporary sculpture to the Chateau de Versailles [ArtCoLLC]
On the lack of transparency in the art market reflected in this year’s Art Basel [Economist]
An interview with Chuck Close in which he discusses how his perceptive disabilities are reflected in his work [Wall Street Journal]

A still from Deadpan by Steve McQueen via the GuardianUK

Beginning July 1st, Creative Time will present Turner Prize winner and current UK Venice Biennale representative Steve McQueen’s Deadpan on the MTV screen in Times Square [Creative Time]
Parkett Art magazine marks 25 years this June 25th in Chelsea, NY [EFlux]
Conceptual artist Dan Graham is speaking at 192 Books in Chelsea, New York on Wednesday, July 1 [192Books.com]

Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth, which will host Antony Gormley’s ‘One & Other’ via Guardian UK

The first round of participants have been announced for Antony Gormley’s living statue project: ‘One & Other,’ on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth in ondon [BBC]

A previous installation of Terracotta Army via VisitStHelens

In related, Anthony Gormley sets up his 40,000 figure “Terracotta Army” in a Devon, UK barn [TelegraphUK]
Dartmouth receives a $50 million donation to support the visual arts [Dartmouth]
Architect Richard Meier is designing major expansion for the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills [LA Times]

Picasso’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ owned by the Guggenheim, allegedly sold under Nazi duress, via Artnet

Judge issues written memo chastizing MoMA and Guggenheim and heirs of Nazi victim for secret settlement over two Picasso paintings in restitution case [Bloomberg]
The Whitney kept it festive this week for its annual Art Party and auction in West Soho, New York [Park Avenue Peerage]
Behind the scenes shots of the making of Banksy’s Bristol exhibition [The WorldsBestEver]

‘Screentest’ for designer Adam Kimmel’s new campaign via Hint

Black and white films and stills by Andy Warhol’s long-time assistant Gerard Malanga from Designer Adam Kimmel’s look book, exhibited at Thaddeus Ropac gallery, feature art world figures Matthew Barney, Francesco Clemente, Ryan McGinley, Dan Colen, Aaron Young and Nate Lowman [AdamKimmel]

Still from Brett Gorvy’s interview with Andy Warhol’s assistant, Gerard Malanga, via Christie’s

In related (to the Kimmel story), Christie’s Brett Gorvy speaks Gerard Malanga on Warhol’s ‘Death and Disaster’ series [Christie’s via Art Market Monitor]

Moody’s, which currently has Sotheby’s bonds below investment grade placed its debt on review for a possible downgrade [Bloomberg] More on the damage to Sotheby’s profits here [ArtNewspaper]
Guy Bennett, co-head of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art department worldwide, resigns [NY Times]
Christie’s begins more salary cuts [Bloomberg]
Citing financial difficulties, Bellwether Gallery closes after a ten year run [Art Fag City]
the Art Institute of Chicago lays off 20 staff members [Chicago Tribune via Artsjournal]
With its endowment down by 18%, the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum will lay off 25 full-time staff [CrainsNewYork]
Art museum attendance in the US is down 23%-26% [ArtReview]
And a summary on the methods New York galleries are using to deal with the recession [NYTimes]

Artist Francesco Clemente at the opening of A History of the Heart in
Three Rainbows at Deitch Projects. Photo by Art Observed.

Last night, Francesco Clemente’s latest show at Deitch Projects opened with a star-studded evening in SoHo.  The exhibition consists of large-scale watercolor paintings that are positioned in a continuous line along the gallery walls. This particular hanging corresponds to Clemente’s aim to embed art with a spiritual experience.  The idea of a rainbow closely reflects the works in the show.  For Clemente, a rainbow is a symbolic structure that sets up connections between people and worlds, and using watercolor allows the light of the paper to come through. Moreover, the watercolors are bright and come after a long period in which the artist worked with a darker palette.  In order to arrive at the final form of the works, Clemente started out with three large scale canvases that were each 60 foot (about 18 meters) long.  He then divided each of them by cutting them into five separate sections. When hung next to each other, the rainbows reconnect in the mind of the viewer. The iconography in the work is derived from candomblé from the Americas, alchemy from Europe and tantra from India. The exhibition will run through May 30, 2009.  Among the crowd were Goldie Hawn and daughter Kate Hudson who were enjoying the show with artist Dustin Yellin who was is now showing at Robert Miller Gallery and who was interviewed by AO recently here.

Opening Francesco Clemente’s A History of the Heart in
Three Rainbows at Deitch Projects. Photo by Art Observed.

A History of the Heart in Three Rainbows
Deitch Projects
18 Wooster Street, New York
May 2, 2009 – May 30, 2009

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page and Press Release [Deitch Projects]
Francesco Clemente at Deitch [Purple Diary]
Francesco Clemente: The History of the Heart in Three Rainbows [Dante Ross]
Francesco Clemente [Daily Serving]

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Chiara Clemente, photo by Maciek Kobielski via NYT

Our City Dreams, a new documentary by Chiara Clemente, daughter of renowned painter Francesco Clemente, is set to have its New York theatrical premiere at Film Forum, Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

The film, an 87-minute-long “love letter to the city,” enters the creative spaces of five women artists ranging in age from 30 to 80, from different generations and cultures, but whose work and lives are now intrinsically connected to New York City – Swoon, Ghada Amer, Kiki Smith, Marina Abramovic, and Nancy Spero.  Each artist is allotted her own segment which explores her work and complex relationship to the city.

The film is crafted in black-and-white, color, super 8, 16mm, DV and HD shot by Theo Stanley, and followed by a theme-driven score by Thomas Lauderdale.  Variety’s Ronnie Scheib states that Clemente’s “exquisitely crafted” documentary “itself quite simply ranks of a work of art.”

Our City Dreams Website
Film Forum
Review of Our City Dreams [Variety]
Loving Portrait of 5 NYC Women Premieres at Film Forum [Art Daily]

Our City Dreams – 87 minutes – distributed by First Run Features

More information and images after the jump..

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“Tobacco vs Red Chief” (1981-2) by Jean-Michel Basquiat via UBS Art Collectio

A new collection at the Tate Modern in London titled “UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s”, which opened last week, centers on Neo-Expressionist paintings, a departure from the minimalist and conceptual artwork that preceded this period. Artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Salle, Alex Katz, Julian Schnabel, and Christopher Le Brun sought to return to historical narratives executed in a vibrant, energetic fashion contributing to powerful results in large-scale, figurative paintings.

The collection draws on works from the reserves of the Tate Collection as well as the UBS Art Collection and includes works such as Basquiat’s “Tobacco vs Red Chief” (1981-2), David Salle’s “My Subjectivity” (1981), Julian Schnabel’s “Humanity Asleep” (1982) painted over a surface of broken plates, Christopher Le Brun’s “Dream, Think, Speak (1981-2) and Clemente’s Self Portrait (1984).  The exhibition has been curated by Matthew Gale, Head of Displays of the Tate Modern.

UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s – Tate Modern
Through April 13, 2009

Paintings from the 1980s [Financial Times]
UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980’s [Tate Modern Website]
UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s at Tate Modern [Art Daily]

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Evil Is Banal, Dumas self-portrait, Marlene Dumas (1984) via New York Magazine

Faces of Marlene Dumas will come to New York [New York Magazine] –
The 7,500 square feet Devi Art Foundation, India’s first contemporary art museum [New York Times]
A highlight of some new shows in Chelsea for the Fall, starting Sept 4th [NYSun]
Sao Paulo heatedly debates when graffiti is considered urban art [NY Sun]
Francesco Clemente on Charlie Rose last week [Charlie Rose – Youtube]

Olafur Eliassion courtesy of NY Mag

The technics of Olafur Eliasson’s upcoming falls project [NY Mag]
Christie’s, Sothebys assert no collusion in recently dual increase in premiums [ArtInfo]
Toxic leak risk leads to armed guards of Hirst’s lamb at LACMA [LA Times]
Banksy contemporary Nick Walker sells $1.5M of street Art in London [Bloomberg]
Clemente works at the Gallery Met at Lincoln Center [New York Times]
$21M record sale of Latin American art at Sotheby’s [ArtDaily]

Anselm Keifer, Secret Life of Plants(2008) via Bloomberg

From April 15 to June 29, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is presenting a unique exhibition on the subject of books in art or of books as art. “Blood on Paper” is an exploration of how artists have interpreted and utilized the book medium. The works range from the conventional book format to large-scale installations and sculptures, such as Anselm Keifer’s enormous book made of lead (pictured).

“Blood on Paper” [Victoria & Albert Museum]
“Bacon’s Trash, Hirst’s Furniture Become Books: Martin Gayford” [Bloomberg]
“The Writing on the Wall“ [Financial Times]
“Works That Speak Volumes” [Financial Times]
“Blood on Paper: the Art of the Book” [The Independent] (more…)

Virgine by Francesco Clemente via Galeria Javier Lopez

The work of Francesco Clemente is on view at Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid through March 27. In this exhibition, a selection from his series New York Muses, the artist brings his musical, lyrical, slightly melancholy style of playing with time and space to the women walking the streets of New York City.

Galeria Javier Lopez
Francesco Clemente [Gagosian Gallery]
Biography of Francesco Clemente [Guggenheim]

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