UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology_SS 2025_FOR PRINT - Flipbook - Page 22
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
of the bar is to create a space of community, he says, “Yes, the goal
of power is to divide and isolate us from one another. Painting can
bring us together, because while ideas divide, forms unite.” This goes
beyond the lingering e昀昀ects of the pandemic, is a project that could
have easily launched had it not occurred. This is a space where artists
and art lovers alike might commune.
The large painting that is central to the Clemente Bar, “Argenis
Apolinario,” holds many of his reoccurring images: people, of course,
but also 昀椀sh, camels, and vessels. “The Kiss” also holds a 昀椀sh and a
bird. Clemente draws from memories, dreams, and mythology, so
these creatures are relevant in many works. The vitality of his work is
often enhanced by the inclusion of these elements. He shares, “I have
an a昀케nity with the language of contemplative traditions and with
the ritual images of these traditions. I know that someone invented
the emblems and deities, someone ‘saw’ them. I attempt to imagine
Francesco Clemente, The Kiss, Series: Great Expectations, 1996, Pastel on paper, © Francesco Clemente; Courtesy of Francesco Clemente Studio
myself in the cave of an ancient hermit in Tibet or in a monastery on
Mount Sinai, and I ask myself, ‘What do you see?’”
And since Clemente has already acknowledged that his works take
on a life of their own outside his original intent, what do you see when
you view his work? What do you carry with you after viewing?
“Gwyneth,” from Great Expectations, has signi昀椀cance beyond the
昀椀lm. This is a portrait of a young woman who seems captured in
a contemplative moment, perhaps a pivotal one, one that might
hold loneliness, but almost certainly holds a deep internal state of
contemplation. Like Walker Evans’ portraits of NYC residents on the
subway, she is caught in a private, intimate moment, and, as viewers,
we are privy to this space, are able to hold empathy and compassion,
to relate. Clemente’s brushwork is exquisite, the color choices and
hues around the eyes and lips evoking youth and femininity.
His untitled self-portrait was a piece I 昀椀rst saw as part of a larger
group of portraits in a photo in Vanity Fair in October, 1999. The
