Francesco Clemente dismisses Transavanguardia as mere label in interview

Francesco Clemente, in a wide-ranging interview with Spanish newspaper ABC, dismissed the Transavanguardia movement as nothing more than a label. Speaking from New York, where he has lived since the late 1970s, Clemente stated that the 1980s were a moment of synchronicity when artists in different parts of the world returned to making art based on life rather than on other art. He argued that an entire generation of artists lacked adequate theoretical training and that no one cared, leading them to be grouped under labels like Neo-Expressionism and Transavanguardia. Clemente rejected the notion that Transavanguardia, theorized by Achille Bonito Oliva in 1979, was a real movement, calling it a brief window of freedom and adventure. He also criticized the current international style as neutral and academic, expressing gratitude for having been in the right place at the right time. The interview covers Clemente's life and career from adolescence to the present.