Francesco Clemente on Painting as Poetry and Performance

The artist Francesco Clemente may have been born and raised in Naples, but—having lived and worked around the world, including in Rome, India, New York City, and New Mexico—he considers himself a citizen of no place. Widely known for his work across mediums, from drawings and frescoes to mosaics, oils, and sculptures, Clemente makes art that evokes his mystical perspective, with his paintings often featuring spiritual subjects or dreamlike symbols. Beyond exhibiting in galleries and museums, over the years Clemente has also made works for a variety of other venues, including a nightclub, a hotel, a Hollywood film, and the Metropolitan Opera. This fall, his work (and name) will be central to his latest unusual project: the soon-to-open Clemente Bar at chef Daniel Humm’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park.

On the episode, Clemente discusses his collaboration with Humm, frescoes as the most luminous artistic medium, his deep affinity with India, and the certain timeworn quality to his art.

Special thanks to our Season 10 presenting sponsor, L’École, School of Jewelry Arts.

Show notes:

Francesco Clemente

[3:55] Clemente Bar

[3:55] Eleven Madison Park

[3:55] Daniel Humm

[3:55] Alba Clemente

[7:50] Murals for the Palladium nightclub

[7:50] Hudson Hotel

[7:50] Ian Schrager

[8:43] Arata Isozaki

[8:43] Philippe Starck

[8:43] Kenny Scharf

[8:43] Keith Haring

[8:43] Jean-Michel Basquiat

[8:43] Steve Rubell

[9:43] Works for Great Expectations (1998)

[9:43] “The Sopranos” series

[9:43] Portrait of Fran Lebowitz

[11:37] Portrait of Toni Morrison

[23:12] Jiddu Krishnamurti

[23:12] Theosophical Society

[24:49] Álvaro Siza

[24:49] Museo Madre

[32:48] Cy Twombly

[32:48] Joseph Beuys’s exhibition “We Are the Revolution” (1972)

[35:30] Rudolf Steiner

[36:56] Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

[37:57] Swami Vivekananda

[39:20] Salman Rushdie

[41:31] Nisargadatta Maharaj

[46:51] Andy Warhol

[46:51] Allen Ginsberg

[48:13] William Blake

[48:54] Raymond Foye

[48:54] Hanuman Books

[50:04] “The Four Corners” (1985)

[53:36] Saint Francis