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.
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