Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India is the first museum exhibition devoted to the Indian influences in Clemente’s work and how they relate to the artistic practices and traditions of various regions in India. In contrast to leading conceptual art practices of the 1970s, Clemente refocused attention on representation, narrative, and the figure, and explored traditional artisanal materials and modes of working.
Since his first trip to India in the 1970s, Francesco Clemente immersed himself in the country’s rich cultures as well as the everyday life and artistic practices of local people. Transforming ancient symbols, myths, and ideas, he has created a personal visual language of dreamlike landscapes, animals, and human figures drawn from recollections of his travels. Themes of sexuality, mythology, and spirituality, along with imaginary narratives of violence, intrigue, fragmentation, love, separation, and jealousy are seen throughout his oeuvre.
Beth Citron was previously the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Rubin Museum of Art. Her exhibitions for the Rubin Museum included Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: Try to Altar Everything (2016), Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India (2014), Witness at a Crossroads: Photographer Marc Riboud in Asia (2014), and the three-part exhibition series Modernist Art from India (2011-13). She completed a PhD in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught in the Art History Department at New York University, from which she also earned a BA in Fine Arts.
Support for this exhibition has been provided by Agnes Gund and Contributors to the 2014 Exhibitions Fund.
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