Series | Shadow

Poet’s Epitaph

He tried to sing, singing
not to remember
his true life of lies
and to remember
his lying life of truths.

—Octavio Paz

Painting is about light and shadow. You have to embrace the shadow to become a painter.
—Francesco Clemente

Beginning in the 1970s, Clemente journeyed to India and became entranced by the country’s many aesthetic and spiritual traditions. Studying Indian art and culture, he began working with local papermakers, sign painters, and miniature painters, incorporating these traditions into his work. In his recent Shadow series (2017), the artist revisits miniature painting, dramatizing the dynamic between figures and the shadows they cast. Blending traditional and contemporary approaches, these watercolors connect geographies, time periods, and cultures in a celebration of beauty.

Francesco Clemente
Shadow III
2017
Watercolor and miniature on paper
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm)
Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio; Collection of the Artist, New York
Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Francesco Clemente
Shadow VI
2017
Watercolor and miniature on paper
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm)
Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio; Collection of the Artist, New York
Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Francesco Clemente
Shadow XIX
2017
Watercolor on handmade paper
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm)
Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio; Collection of the Artist, New York
Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Francesco Clemente
Shadow XVI
2017
Watercolor and miniature on paper
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm)
Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio; Collection of the Artist, New York
Photo: Farzad Owrang

Francesco Clemente
Shadow XVIII
2017
Watercolor and miniature on paper
18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm)
Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio; Collection of the Artist, New York
Photo: Farzad Owrang