Published by Pace Editions, New York, to benefit NARAL.

Printed by Spring Street Workshop, New York.
Literature: Axsom/Platzker 233.

'Traditional Self Portrait, from Art Pro-Choice II' by Francesco Clemente is a lithograph from 1991, measuring 51 × 41 cm. Rendered in pale ochre tones against an off-white ground, it depicts a frontal self-portrait — close-cropped hair, a slight stubble, a collared shirt — with seven classical alchemical metals labelled directly onto the face: 'SILVER' and 'GOLD' across the eyes, 'COPPER' at the cheekbone, 'LEAD' beside the ear, 'TIN' and 'IRON' at the nose, and 'QUICKSILVER' across the lips. The work comes from Art Pro-Choice II, a portfolio produced in support of reproductive rights. Clemente's practice frequently dissolves the boundary between self and symbol — fragmentary, non-linear — and here the body becomes a diagram, its features mapped onto a pre-modern cosmological system rather than a psychological interior.