Felice Varini artwork

Douze disques dans l'ellipse (Twelve discs in the ellipse), 2022
Artist: Felice Varini
1952, Locarno, Switzerland. Lives and works in Paris.

Architectural spaces and their components are the field of action of painter Felice Varini. His work develops in relation to the very spaces it inhabits. He walks through the premises, noting its architecture, its materials, its history and its functions. The artist then uses this spatial data to define a vantage point, a precisely chosen spot in the space, around which his intervention takes shape. This point of view functions as a starting point, from which the complete painting can be seen by the viewers. As they move around, other aspects of the work and of the space come into view.

The oeuvre installed here is spread over the eight floors of the large central atrium. Its vantage point is located on the ground floor. Looking up vertically at the glass roof at the top of the building reveals a large blue ellipse pierced by twelve discs. This painting is at one with the volumes of the architectural space and its elements, from the top floor to the first floor of the atrium.

The colour blue is recurrent in the artist's work; it is an aesthetic choice in line with the colour of the concrete on which the cylinders are painted.

Felice Varini works mainly with a single colour, creating a play of light and shadow that will evolve over the course of the day.

My field of action is architectural space and everything that constitutes such space These spaces are and remain the original media for my painting. I work 'on site' each time in a different space and my work develops
itself in relation to the spaces I encounter.

I generally roam through the space noting its architecture, materials, history and function. From these spatial data and in reference to the last piece I produced, I designate a specific vantage point for viewing from which my intervention takes shape.

The vantage point is carefully chosen: it is generally situated at my eye level and located preferably along an inevitable route, for instance an aperture between one room and another, a landing... I do not, however, make a rule out of this, for all spaces do not systematically possess an evident line. It is often an arbitrary choice. The vantage point will function as a reading point, that is to say, as a potential starting point to approaching painting and space.

The painted form achieves its coherence when the viewer stands at the vantage point.When he moves out of it, the work meets with space generating infinite vantage points on the form. It is not therefore through this
original vantage point that I see the work achieved; it takes place in the set of vantage points the viewer can have on it.

If I establish a particular relation to architectural features that influence the installation shape, my work still preserves its independence whatever architectural spaces I encounter. I start from an actual situation to construct my painting. Reality is never altered, erased or modified, it interests and seduces me in all its complexity. I work 'here and now'.

More info:

External site Felice Varini

The video shows a timelapse of the artwork Twelve discs in the ellipse (this video contains no dialogue or text):

The video shows an interview with Felice Varini (this video contains an interview in French with French and Dutch subtitles):