In 2004, selected walls and ceiling surfaces at Galerie Xippas, Athens, were painted with concentric lines to create an illusion called ‘Everybody for the red angle’
|
‘Eight Eccentric Circles via the Coffee Table’ created in 2005 at the Contemporary Art Centre, Mouans Sartoux, France
|
In 1982, Varini painted a ‘standing’ mesh of flourescent strips, in the middle of The Cultural Centre, Creteil, France
|
‘Full Red Ellipses for the Window’ was painted in 1995 at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Rome
|
|
Converging Dimensions
September 2007
Text: Rukmini Kamat
Photographs: courtesy Felice Varini
Painter Felice Varini has created a unique style of art by creating two dimensional figures in a three-dimensional medium.
“IMAGINE A CIRCLE, A TRIANGLE or a rectangle, suspended in a room,” I tried to create a mental picture in my editor’s mind. As we surfed through www.varini.org, we were stunned and bemused by the artist’s work. Geometric and inorganic shapes seemed to be floating in indoor spaces and even on the outer shells of buildings. As if the graphic artist had painted over photographs of various spaces. Except, the floating shapes do exist.
Felice Varini, the 55-year-old artist from Paris, corrected us in his not-so-fluent English, “I am not a graphics artist but a painter, who works specifically on spaces.” Till the age of 20, Varini stayed in Switzerland. He then moved to Paris to study fine art. On solo tours of museums and art galleries in the city, he discovered and soaked Kasimir Malevich’s ideas on cubism and suprematism; Pieter Mondrian’s compositions of rectangles and lines; and Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressions. That was 30 years ago. Since then, Varini’s unusual work has developed a character of its own.
“My field of action is the architectural domain and its constituents,” explains Varini, “I work ‘on-site’ each time, in a different space. My work develops in relation to the spaces I encounter.” Varini starts by scanning the ‘space’, which can be anything: a room, building, city square, chapel or even an industrial premise. He studies the space’s history, architectural style and function. He feels and notes down the materials that constitute the space. “I need to know the place inside-out, so I can feel its textures and functions, and then determine the starting point of my painting. The aim is to find an appropriate vantage point, from where to view the super-imposition,” Varini reveals.
The vantage point is usually located at average eye-level, at a location best-suited to the shape to be painted. It can be the entrance of a room, or at the end of a series of doorways. It can even be the landing of a staircase.
Varini then paints the surfaces that will help achieve the illusion. He paints the walls, floor, railings, beams, columns and all other surfaces, which correspond to form the desired view. As one moves away from the vantage point, one sees the many parts that make the whole — a multitude of painted surfaces.
There are traces of artists and art movements that have moulded Varini’s thought process, and hence his work. The use of basic shapes and lines seen in Suprematist art, and the plain forms and colours seen in the De Stilj era are clearly visible. These influences show in the simple shapes and colours, which he uses. The use of multiple surfaces to achieve one product, is a Cubist approach, where the subject of the painting is broken down, analysed and showed, in detail, from various view points. Some of Varini’s semblances emphasize on bringing out the texture and feel of the surfaces, through painting them.
Exhibits and museums the world over have been a platform for Varini’s work. Yet, after 30 years of doing what he does best, Varini cannot claim any piece as his favourite. “The next one will be my favourite,” he claims, with every new painting.
Varini’s paintings maintain their independence, even though they are determined by the character of the space in which they are held. Each piece of art, can be termed an installation. The more complex the space, the more complex the painting. “Reality cannot be erased, altered or modified. I am seduced by the complexity of a space. I work here and now,” he states emphatically.
Art Movements
Cubism originated in France between 1907 and 1914. In Cubism, the subject is visually dissected, analysed and viewed from various angles.
Suprematism was started by Kasimir Malevich in Russia around 1915. It focuses on creating art with basic geometric forms like squares and circles.
De Stilj, derived from the Dutch pronounciation of the words ‘the style’, is also called neo-plasticism movement. Started in 1917 by Dutch artists, this style speaks of simplicity and harmony; horizontal and vertical elements. Primary colours were used as subjects of art.
Abstract expressionism originated in America, post World War II. It focussed on spontaneous creation, or rather expressing what was in the artist’s mind at that moment, by making use of any medium, even his body.
|
|
A sliced, spiral, created in 1986 at the Contemporary Arts Centre, Nevers, France. The painting magnifies the textures and shades of the arches and walls around it
| |
|
|
)
)
)
)
)