Mission of Misinterpretation: Final Tips! 5 of 5

It is now the time to reflect on the things that we’ve learned about misinterpretations. So what is it exactly that we should remember when making interpretations?

Remember to consider the information you collect when researching art works. If you are trying to interpret the art, be sure your research focuses on the work. Remember, we’re trying to interpret art and not Francesco Clemente.

Be sure that whatever references that are to be used in the interpretation truly connect with the piece. It is important to ask yourself whether or not the info explains the different aspects of the piece. This would be considered a positive approach towards proper interpretation.


Remember that each artist is different. In the case of Francesco Clemente, because his art is extremely personal, knowing about the artist is an important clue towards understanding his intentions. This is not the case for all artists. Some artist’s biographical information have nothing to do with their work. Biographical information about an artist should be questioned to see if it connects with the work.

No interpretations are 100 percent false, so long as they are put into appropriate contexts for the interpreter’s audience and logically argued. If you’re attempting to formalize your interpretation, consider your audience. Be careful when referencing your emotions. If you write about your feelings be sure to explain why they might be important. Be sure that your emotions don’t become the interpretation.


Symbolism can sometimes be a difficult thing to interpret, especially if you are unfamiliar with an artist’s chosen language of communication. In cases like these it is important to do further research. If that option is unavailable to you, write what you do know and understand. Be sure to answer why and how you came to your conclusion. Using that approach will demonstrate that you did not misinterpret the work, but instead it will defend your understandings.


Combined with all of the previous information, the most important thing you can do in your interpretation(s) is to have confidence. The process can be a matter of trial and error. Don't let yourself be discouraged if you find that your interpretation lacks further information or insight. Give yourself credit for your effort and keep trying. It takes experience to have an interpretation that harmonizes with the artist's intentions, the audience's perspective, and your own views and feelings of a piece. Even professionals make mistakes. The idea here is that when you are practicing criticism, rather than perfecting interpretations of subjects that are actually uncertain, you would instead focus on avoiding misinterpretations. This approach can bring a critic confidence and a sense of achievement.

Mission of Misinterpretation: Interpreting symbolism! 4 of 5

If you couldn’t see already, Francesco Clemente is a pretty interesting guy. His artworks are packed with symbolism. In another book that I’ve used in my research, by Michael Auping titled, Francesco Clemente (pretty creative title right?), I have found more information that can give us a better clue into what our artist means when he says he creates “unknown ideograms.” In the begging section of the book called Fragments, a quote by Francesco’s describes his work:

I have an idea of a kind of circuit of what I want to do. It seems that the ideogram-when the Chinese have to say “chair,” they don’t say chair. The ideogram doesn’t depict a chair, but depicts a…maybe the bamboo. I mean the bamboo in the morning is taken to become the chair somehow. What they look for is the situation of what they want to depict. And they find out a kind of analogical train of things which is going on, and they depict one of those things. Nobody really knows why they choose that one and not the other one…

Some of the works I have not shared are quite graphic; displaying what could be described as strange or absurd self and sexual explorations. These pieces also touch on cultural differences in the East verses the West. Because of their graphic nature, including this information in the book about the ideogram, serves to be a helpful guide for audiences, so that Francesco’s intentions are better presented with the least amount of confusion.


In his painting Inside/Outside (Watercolor, pastel, and pencil on fourteen sheets of handmade Pondicherry paper, joined with hand-woven cotton strips, 63 x 164 inches: from the Rubell Family Collections) we can observe a self portrait of Francesco himself, facing the audience in the nude. His left arm reaches towards the right side of the painting, holding the hand of another nude/shirtless body whose gender is unknown as only the arm is visible. Francesco’s other arm is in front of his chest where his index finger is closing his left nostril. From the far left of this long piece is a tree. Some of the leaves appear to be unfinished as others are painted with color rather than plainly outlined.


The largest, and colored, tree branch is painted across the piece into his right open nostril, or what appears to be very close by it. Is Francesco picking his nose? Is the tree helping him pick a winner?

For those who are unfamiliar with Eastern cultures, many people practice what is called a Yogi lifestyle (not to be confused with Yogi bear). The practices are part of Yoga, but the Western ideas of Yoga tend to relate solely to Hatha Yoga (or the exercise Yoga that is popular in the American culture). Eastern Yoga tends to go much more in depth than just exercise, where people will practice Yoga in their entire lifestyle. One breathing exercise in particular will have the practitioner hold one nostril while breathing through only the other. This practice is meant to train the body to adapt to breathing limitations.

With this cultural information it might very well apply to the gesture that Francesco’s portrait is suggesting. How can we tell what this gesture is about?

If we focus our interpretation in a formal context we would want to be careful with describing what emotions this piece might invoke. Because Francesco’s work tends to display a very specific intention to the artist himself, it is nearly impossible to really understand what this piece is ultimately about.

As critics we are not seeking to define the ultimate meaning of an artwork; instead, criticism is about creating interpretations that are based off of facts and logical observations that are placed into an appropriate context for its viewers. In this case it is important not to be swept away by the cultural facts since there are so many references that appear in his art. It takes quite a bit of experience to understand the advanced cultural ideas in this cross-cultural work.


If you find yourself in a position where you are unfamiliar with such information the best way to avoid misinterpretations is by doing further research of the piece and the things that reference it (ie: the artist, their influences, the title, medium(s) used, symbols, color, date created, etc…).

Remember that when making assumptions based off of your research it does not guarantee your criticism is accurate. Providing research that aids your interpretation will only help your argument be better accepted. When interpreting symbols that you are familiar with, the best approach to take is to use what you understand about the symbol and to also refference how you've come to that conclusion.

Mission of Misinterpretation: Contextualizing Interpretations to an Audience! 3 of 5

Lets take a peak at one of Francesco’s many paintings, shall we? Here is a piece titled Tree from The Book of the Sea. The book that this image comes from (a different book) is titled, Clemente by Francesco Clemente himself. It states that the piece is a watercolor on paper, the dimensions are 44 ¼ x 46 inches, and that it was created in 1993.


When I look at this piece I gather a calm feeling from the cool greens and blues that were used, in combination with a small mix of yellow in the upper half part. The watermarks from the paint seem to add to that calm feeling, similar to how water tends to naturally hold such a serene essence.

Looking at the content, we see a body in the center of this piece, existing among different sets of hands coming from every edge of the painting. All painted in a contour, the hands seem to be reaching, almost yearning, to touch the body that is in the middle. Most of the hands are touching and/or holding the body. Does this piece not scream sensual from the expressions found in the gestures of these bodies? Is the body in the center possibly a corpse? Are these reaching hands mourning over a family member, friend, or lover? Are the cool colors meant create a dark mood to represent a funeral burial?

What is this piece about? What was Francesco trying to say here? How should a person go about their interpretation? How can they avoid misinterpretations?

Before I begin to answer these questions, lets observe the actual interpretation we’re looking for. There can be literally one to millions of different kinds of interpretations created for any piece of art. For all artworks, the things that influence the interpreter also have the potential to influence their interpretation. For example, because the artist influences me I am curious to know what Francesco had in mind for this piece. Was it something he painted for someone else? Was this piece commissioned? These questions affect how I view and value this particular piece. These facts affect my interpretation.

For someone who has never heard of him before, and has encountered this piece for the first time, they might feel it is about something entirely different. If information about the artist were an important part of understanding the art, a viewer in this naïve situation would probably have a more difficult time interpreting it for its intended meaning. Depending upon what the audience seeks to find in this piece, the original intention set forth might be irrelevant, making the interpretation void of the artist’s intent.

The truth is no interpretations are 100 percent false. It depends upon the context in which we make our judgments. When creating an interpretation, the question you should ask yourself is, “for whom (what audience) am I making this interpretation for?” Is it for me? Do I want to know what the artist had in mind? Am I trying to explain this piece for my grandmother? Is this for a class? Should the artist’s intention affect my interpretation? Is there any specific information that I should consider when creating my interpretation?

In order to avoid misinterpretations, it is important to consider whom we are interpreting the work for as well as what information is important to properly make our judgment. In my case, if I am the only person looking at the piece, and I have no other formal audience, I would have the freedom to have any emotional response that I deem is appropriate. If I was having an intellectual conversation about Francesco Clemente, and this particular painting, facts that go further than my personal feelings should be taken into consideration.


You may wonder, “Isn’t this common sense?” For some people, that may be so, yet others still allow their personal feelings and biases influence their judgments. This can only make things more difficult when trying to create an objective interpretation, based on facts, which do not relate to the critics themselves.

So to answer my original questions about how to properly interpret this painting, I will have to determine who my intended audience is and how objective am I trying to be.

For now, it is only I. Whatever Francesco had in mind will not matter. The book provides no further information on this piece; either way it does not matter. Any emotion I feel for this painting, in this context, is accurate. I see this piece just as I have found it before; a painting about sensuality. The body in the piece is experiencing an existence of touch, expressing a, “this is what it feels like to be loved with touch,” kind of message.

Providing readers with information about the context in which the interpretation was made will also protect them from misinterpreting it.

Mission of Misinterpretation: Understanding the biographical information! 2 of 5

So, who exactly is Francesco Clemente?

Your response: I don’t know?


To start, Francesco Clemente is a self-taught Italian painter. He was born in Naples in March of 1952. He originally studied architecture. I read about him in the book Francesco Clemente, by Elizabeth Avedon, that when he was a child he use to write poetry. His mother would then unintentionally embarrass him by sharing his poetry, bragging about his creativity. As a child he felt uncomfortable with his mother's bragging because he didn’t always have as deep of an intention, for his work, that she was bragging to everyone about.

Francesco Clemente has traveled all around the world, spending most of his time in India, Naples, and New York City. Francesco Clemente’s work has explored different cultures in deep and imaginative means. He creates what he calls “unknown ideograms.” An ideogram is a pictorial symbol used to express a concept or an idea. In other words, it appears that Francesco Clemente attempts to create unknown or un-thought of symbols in his artworks, to represent his thoughts and ideas.


With all this biographical information, how does it help a viewer interpret his art? Biographical information about any artist can be either helpful or it might have no significance at all. In this case the only thing that seems helpful towards his artwork is the information that the artist provided, “unknown ideograms.”

What this tells us is about interpreting art is that we need to remain alert while listening to any information that does not specifically connect with the art. Listening to critics babble about the artist might distract you from the art. I find Francesco Clemente fascinating as a person, but if I only read things about him, and ignore his productions, I will have completely disrespected his work. All of that labor gone down the drain because of an infatuation with the artist. What a shame that could turn out to be! So words of advice, use your selective hearing when reading or listening to any information about an artist. Also be sure when you’re interpreting art to only consider info that directly connects with the work.

Mission of Misinterpretation: An insight into how people misunderstand art! 1 of 5

Buckle your seatbelts folks because we’re about to embark on a new mission into the depths of some contemporary art. The artworks we will be exploring are by the famous Francesco Clemente. Before we begin, we’re going to have to prepare ourselves for this mission.


First and foremost I must introduce myself. My name is Michael Indigo Moon. I am studying to become an Art Teacher. I have completed over half of my required courses (this is important information). One course I am currently taking is about Art Criticism. The classes I’ve taken so far, combined with the amount of hours I’ve spent with art, and making my own art, imply that I have a particular bias towards interpreting art.

I love to write. I have over 26 diaries (starting a few days before 9/11), and so far I have 4 blogs. I consider myself a multicultural person as I study and practice things from different spiritual and religious cultures. I am part of an improvisation movement (dance) group. I am interested in issues that deal with human behavior and the body. I enjoy conversations about different philosophies of love, intimacy, relationships, existence, and identity.

As a critic and art maker, I am attracted to artists who display creative means to conceptualizing human emotions and experiences. I enjoy photography of almost any kind. I enjoy some abstract works; mostly ones that are expressive with color. I am more experienced with two-dimensional works. I have very little experience with sculpture and installations. Because of my experience with dance, my three-dimensional works are normally oriented towards movement and performing arts.

When I look at artworks, my personal interests influence me. I like to apply my knowledge from my personal interests; taking the art and incorporating it as a reference for conversations. I like to uncover hidden concepts or ideas that an artist might intend for their work. I like discovering whom their intended audience is and any possible messages that they are trying to get across. I enjoy comparing an artist’s creative ideas with my own. You might say I am more interested in the ideas that artists have rather than their work.

I’d bet your wondering, why I’m telling you all this information about myself instead of babbling about Francesco Clemente? I am writing this blog entry to address an issue about the interpretation of art. The issue that I am addressing is misinterpretation. While people create interpretations, they are sometimes influenced by factors that do not interpret the actual art, which leads to making false judgments about art. In order for any reader to understand this issue, you will need to know some information about me as a critic and as a person. Francesco Clemente, and his works, are going to serve as our primary example as we will attempt to interpret his art while addressing the issue of misinterpretation.


The textbook for my criticism class is the second edition book Criticizing Art by Terry Barrett. In our class we have gone over how to properly describe, interpret, and criticize art based off of logical reasoning combined with other creative means. Our class has gone into depths about understanding what good descriptions are and how they differ from interpretations. Understanding these differences is important in criticism because interpretations can be subjected to different biases where descriptions are concrete. It takes experience to practice criticism appropriately in an objective fashion. Sometimes we need a guide to help us. This is why I am here. Understating a little about my background might help you see the kinds of lenses that I use when criticizing art. Different interpretations give any viewer more perspectives into what the art is about, what the artist might have intended when making the piece, as well as an understanding of what the art means to other people.

Going back to my focus: I’m writing about misinterpretation. What factors play into the misinterpretation of art works? How can a person recognize when they’re misinterpreting art? When looking at art you don’t understand, what steps can a person take to obtain a better understanding of the work? How can you tell when you “get it?”


Touching upon our artist, I will be discussing information about him, his art, my experiences and ideas, my feelings, and how all of these things relate and factor into the misinterpretation of art. The writing is also intended to guide readers in developing a clear understanding of how misinterpretation occurs.


These next few blog entries will serve as my mission to understanding misinterpretation, while using my camera and other resources on our artist. So put your napkins on your lap cause you’re in for a treat.