Chiara Boeri: Faust Fragments – Part I and II

  • ©2003, Chiara Boeri

Artist(s):


Title:


    Faust Fragments - Part I and II

Exhibition:


Creation Year:


    2003

Size:


    3.3 metres x 3.3 metres

Artist Statement:


    An homage to Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Giorgio Strehler:

    When to the moment I shall say,
    “Linger awhile’ so fair thou art!”….

    This double-sided painting on canvas and silk is inspired by Goethe’s poem, but especially by the theater staging that Giorgio Strehler, the greatest Italian director, produced in Milano in 1991-92. It was magic and the last major performance he offered before he died in 1997. Theater is an essential part of my life as an artist, and I had the chance to work with Strehler. Theater is also a special art that only lasts during the time it is presented. No recordings will ever reproduce its peculiar atmosphere. I know this well, since recently Strehler’s Piccolo Teatro asked me to make a special edition of Faust from their video archives, reducing it from seven hours to two, for the European Theater Festival. It was a success, but I felt frustrated. So I decided to make this artwork to convey, if possible, the same magic I felt when I saw “Faust Fragments” in 1991.

    Computers are very important to my way of painting, and I make extensive use of them, from layout to the almost final image. In this case, I mostly worked with a Quante Graphic Paint Box to create images, and with a Mac for inputs and outputs.

    I digitized many elements, textures that I made in a traditional way, calligraphic drawings. Then I created 35 separate pieces: two quite big (3.30 metres x 3.30 metres) to be printed on canvas, the others of different sizes to be printed on silk, with a large, professional-quality printer specially designed for fabrics.

    A significant scenographic element of Strehler’s staging was a spiral, which symbolized Faust’s life and his striving to move ahead. It was my starting point. Around it, I wrote some verses of the poem. Then on one side I separately painted 33 significant dramatic moments (to be printed on silk, then sewn onto the canvas), and on the other side I wrote and painted more verses, in German, English, and Italian. I put all the pieces together and finished the artwork by painting over it with oil and acrylic. To be seen on both sides, the artwork hangs from a special support, robust and light, very easy to mount and transport.