Clemente, Francesco(1952-)

Sun

1980

Gouache on twelve sheets of handmade Pondicherry paper, joined by cotton strips

We see an unaware smoker on his bed unconcerned about the world as if in a dream. But he is conscious. Although named sun this gouache shows a man as far from nature as can be. The sun is just a picture on the wall. Van Gogh got desperate and mad trying to capture the love of God's nature in his art. He killed himself for the in his eyes futile and hopeless endeavor. This scene also shows something of that despair. Without the cigarette it might have been a happy man, but with it it is just a desperate addict in false happiness, out of touch with his own nature, his own love for the truth and the reality of the sun. The only hope is in art: there is still the sun seen consciously.

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© Time Art Gallery/hall 1