In 1992, Margaret-Ann Clemente established herself as a full-time printmaker and painter, pursuing themes inspired by animals from the North American continent and those from her native France. September 11, 2001 redirected her artistic vision. Responding to subsequent global events, her work evolved into a non-objective abstract style called Internal Expressionism.
     A recognizable characteristic of Clemente’s work is unusual media. She constantly experiments beyond presumed limits. Metal leaf, wax media, crystalline particulates, sand, pumice and glass beads join the acrylics, latex house paints, glazes, dry pigments and clay paints previously found not only in her paintings but also in her prints.
     In 2008, Clemente began extensive research on the symbols used in the Aurignacian period of the Upper Paleolithic epoch, which lasted from approximately 40,000 to 26,000 years ago in Europe and Southeast Asia. The spiral, chevron, wavy line, rectangle, square, triangle, meander, dot and circle were part of a visual vocabulary with which humans communicated and adorned their lives. The images in her 2008 through mid-2010 prints were inspired from patterns found on the handles of implements used then and engravings on stone, shell and wood. Clemente’s multi-plate prints are intended to honor and raise awareness of the creativity of those who came before us, and who made our existence possible today.
     The culmination of her research occurred in late 2010, when she visited Sicily, from where her paternal ancestors originate. The work in the Sicilian Gallery is dedicated to them and echo many of the primal symbols and patterns Clemente witnessed during her visit. No longer abstract, her prints are vividly illustrative, reflecting complex imagery while remaining straightforward.
      Clemente’s work can be found in private and corporate collections in the US and Europe and is available through galleries and private consultants. She accepts commissions and maintains a studio at Twin Pines Art Center in Belmont, CA and in Half Moon Bay, CA.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010   New Works on Paper, Belmont Arts Council Gallery, Belmont, CA

2009   Marks and Metal, Café Zoe, Menlo Park, CA

2007   AZURE, Belmont Arts Council Gallery, Belmont, CA

2006   Venetian Bold, SOCO Gallery, Half Moon Bay, CA      New Works, Atrium Gallery Extension, Belmont, CA

1996   Nude Felines, Coastal Arts Museum, Half Moon Bay, CA

1995   Animal Connections, Elizabeth Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

1994   Higher Animals, Palo Alto Unitarian Church, Palo Alto, CA

1993   Animal Debut, Coastal Arts League Museum, Half Moon Bay, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011    Icons and Visions,  Museo ItaloAmericano, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA