Inauguration of Sala dell’Annunziata and the exhibition entitled “Lezione americana” (An American Lesson)

On 6 May 2023, the inauguration of Sala dell’Annunziata marked the close of a project to enhance and restore the hall, which is part of Pietrasanta’s Sant’Agostino complex.

To celebrate the inauguration with an event of international standing, the Sala dell’Annunziata hall played host to the exhibition entitled “Alfonso Clerici – Lezione americana”, organised by Fondazione Paolo e Giuliana Clerici and promoted by Pietrasanta Town Council, in conjunction with Fondazione Versiliana and Start – Save Tourism and Art.

The exhibition showcases a selection of paintings on canvas, paper, wood and iPad Drawings, as well as a vast collection of watercolours. The story is told in images by Alfonso Clerici: a painter, multifaceted artist and photographer with a leaning towards a highly expressive use of colour, he made his debut in New York towards the end of the ’70s.

Who is Alfonso Clerici

Born in Genoa on 9 March 1953, his love of colour manifested itself at a tender age with the first “paintings” on the walls of his childhood home, and in school exercise books that contained more colourful scribblings than homework.

At the age of 15, his father gave him his Asahi Pentax camera, and Alfonso added photography to his list of passions.

Colours and photography were just hobbies until he moved to New York City, where he lived from the late ’70s to the early ’80s.

Not long after he arrived in the Big Apple, a fortunate series of events led him to meet Andy Warhol and several others from his factory.

Some of them became good friends and introduced him to the magical world of art in New York.

From that moment onwards, he started to discover new art, meet artists, visit studios, galleries and museums.

It was then that he realised that art can also be fun, spontaneous and even scandalous.

He hasn’t stopped drawing, painting, taking photos and manipulating them. Most of all, he has never stopped experimenting.