Clemente Mimun

Secrets of My Heart 8 x 8 Oil on Canvas $375	Window to My Heart 10 x 10 Oil on Canvas $425
Heartthrob 12 x 12 Oil on Canvas Sold	Color Attraction 20" x 20" Oil $1075
Walking the Dog I 12" x 15" Oil on Panel $450 each/$800 pair	Walking the Dog II 12" x 15" Oil on Board $450 each/$800 pair

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Born in 1937, artist Clemente C. Mimun lived his childhood years in Carthage, the ex-French colony of Tunisia. As the son of a gallery owner, young Clemente met many French and Italian artists who were escaping the war, one of which became his first tutor. Clemente immersed himself in the museums of LeBardo and Carthage, abundant with Roman and Phoenician art; all of which left an indelible impression.

At the age of 16, Clemente moved to Paris. At this formative age, he spent countless hours in the coffeehouses of Paris absorbing the philosophical conversations of elder artists. To this day, Clemente acknowledges these experiences in the development of his own personal philosophies on existentialism, morality and self-responsibility - all of which transpire in the motivation of his artwork. By 1962, Clemente settled in the United States. In spite of his strong European viewpoints, Clemente relished the American culture. Today, his universal language is spoken through his art.

The vibrant expressionistic work of Clemente Mimun possesses an unbridled brilliance reminiscent of the Fauvist style of the early 20th Century. A short-lived movement that burst on the Paris art scene in 1905, Fauvism paved the way to both Cubism and Modern Expressionism in its disregard for natural forms and innovation use of color.

Influenced by the works of Henri Matisse and surrealist, Georges Henri Rouault, Clemente's art embodies a personal, intellectual and philosophical content unique to his work. Amidst the artist's vast repertoire of figurative, abstract and floral images lies a collective genius with regard to his use of color, shape, form and narrative.

Clemente explains that his work is born of a synergy between memory and imagination. He uses no models, pictures or still life arrangements when creating a new work of art. A self-proclaimed "observer", Clemente chooses to elicit an intellectual formula for his subject matter that he describes through a hierarchy of interpersonal understanding.

On the first level, Clemente strives to expose one's isolation from the rest of the world and the inevitable "antagonistic possession" that lies in our relationships therein. The second level involves an attempt to communicate to resolve this antagonism ? not through the complexity of words, but through the simplicity of symbolism. The third level of reconciliation - a resolution to consume and accept a peaceable coexistence. In other words, the artist states: "Why not say it with flowers?"

Clemente's obsession with floral subject matter reflects his philosophy, in that the flower is notoriously one of the purest forms of symbolism and seems to possess the power to communicate truth and beauty in some of the simplest ways. Additionally, the seemingly endless varieties, colors, and shapes never cease to fascinate him. The artist has found a veritable playground amidst the garden of his mind.

The embodiment of Clemente's keen observation of attitudes and simple acts suggests a departure from the norm and thus becomes the unique narrative of his work. The evolution of the artist, as well as his ideas, are apparent in his artwork through his vivid and repetitive, almost obsessive, style.