Chiara Clemente, Our City Dreams
Chiara Clemente, daughter of famed painter Francesco (who collaborated with the likes of Warhol and Basquiat), has taken up a cinematic paint brush and created her own celluloid masterpiece. Clemente's Our City Dreams documents the lives of five female artists, "each of whom has a passion for making art inseparable from her devotion to New York." You'll be introduced to Swoon, Ghada Amer, Kiki Smith, Marina Abramovic, and Nancy Spero, as they tell their own stories for Clemente's camera. The film is now screening at the Film Forum through the 17th.
How long did you work on Our City Dreams for? In March it will be exactly four years.
How did you go about picking the artists featured?Each artist has their own story of how they became part of the film. Swoon I had to track down, Ghada inspired the idea for the film after a 3 hour studio visit, Kiki I have always loved and felt connected to, Marina I had to serenade and Nancy was the biggest discovery.
What role do you feel New York City plays in the art world? As in my film, New York is a central character to the art world. People flow through the city at such a constant rate that the energy and the ideas that come out of it are explosive.
Do you have any favorite places in New York to see art? I love walking the streets and discovering art that is secretly put up.
Can you talk a little bit about what it was like growing up amongst such an artistic atmosphere? I grew up in a very normal family environment that just happened to be filled with artists coming in and out and many nights staying for my mom’s delicious dinners.
What is your first memory of seeing, making or being affected by art? I learned to walk around my father’s paintings so it quickly became part of my everyday life.
What is your relationship with NYC? I read that you left for a while to find your own identity away from your father's. NY is an extreme city. You either love it or hate it and for a long time I felt I did not belong here. This was not my city. When I finally decided to return after 8 years I decided to rediscover the city through my camera and started shooting Our City Dreams. Four years and five artists later my feeling have definitely shifted towards love.
Please share your strangest "only in New York" story. We had these neighbors that were very involved with the circus and they would often take in wild animals that needed a temporary home. Every now and then, we would go over and get to play with the baby ones.
Which New Yorker do you most admire? The Statue of Liberty.
Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? I would transform Manhattan into a giant green house so it became a tropical place… oh and elect Waris Mayor of this tropical island.
What's your current soundtrack? “This American Life”
Best cheap eat in the city. Natori.
Best venue to see music. Bowery Ballroom.
