Francesco Clemente

Map of What is Effortless, 2018-2019

Hand-knotted, hand-spun, hand-dyed natural silk

225 x 104cm

(dimensions are variable as each rug is handmade)

Limited edition of 10 plus two artist's proofs

Courtesy the artist

"The fearful symmetry of the tiger, the comforting symmetry of the hands, the symmetry of love, the legend of an early Buddha feeding himself to a starving tiger."  - Francesco Clemente

Francesco Clemente used an image taken from his 1978 painting Map of What is Effortless depicting a hand (palm up) with an animal balanced on the tip of each of the five fingers: a zebra, tiger, elephant, lion and giraffe. The scale of the hand compared to the animals is significant of course, and 40 years after the original painting was executed, we believe it is ever more poignant - that although humans may not be bigger in stature than our animal counterparts, we are dominating their world and consequently are the cause of their demise.

Exhibitions

Tomorrow's Tigers (2019) at Sotheby's, London; Academicians' Room at the Royal Academy of Arts, London