Karim Ghaddab,
Renverser la peinture, 2020 (French)
Subito Radio,
Un entretien avec Sylvain Roche et Jérôme Boutterin, 2019 (French)
Gabriele Chiari’s watercolours, 2014
Weaving Colour, Essay written by Clément Dirié, translated from French to English by Charles Penwarden and coedited by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès and Actes Sud as part of the 2013 Cahier de Résidence
Fondation d’entreprise Hermès,
Artist's residencies #4, Gabriele Chiari - Holding Textile Hermès, 2013 (French)
Éric Suchère,
Aquarelles, 2013 (French)
Gabriele Chiari,
3 récits en couleur, 2012 (French)
François Durif,
Un texte pour se souvenir, 2011 (French)
Cédric Loire,
Surfaces de passage, 2007 (French)
Gabriele Chiari,
Aquarelles, dessins d'après aquarelles, 2007 (French)
Marielle Barascud,
Ordonner la peinture, 2006 (French)
Cédric Loire,
Kaltes Klares Wasser, 2005 (French)
Marielle Barascud,
Communiqué de presse, 2005 (French)
Gabriele Chiari’s watercolours
The creation of Gabriele Chiari’s watercolours follow very precise protocols, associating anticipation, control and chance. Setting up rigorous principles of organization renewed for every work, she chooses the quality of the paper, the color of the ink and the tool to paint, systematically using a horizontal format.
Before being created in her studio, the stains already exist as mental images inspired by long silent walks, rocky lands- capes... It is in this state of receptiveness that ideas appears and take shape, suggesting her new forms.
Inside this conscious and controlled process, the artist leaves an opening, a space in which chance and the unpredictable can intervene. The general shape of the stain is defined but details cannot be anticipated.
The paper undergoes a significant number of manipulations : it can be folded, wrinkled, creased, or molded, reminiscent of Simon Hantaï’s work. The liquidity of the watercolour allows it to flow into the created creases, spreading pigments at random folds.
The gesture is important in Gabriele’s work. First, the one shaping the paper, then the other, applying the color. The second one is fast (a few seconds only), and controlled because following numerous tries.
She uses non-conventional tools which she draws from her everyday life (brush, brooms, watering can, stencil, corrugated iron, rain), diverting them from their normal use.
The invocation of chance within the creation shows a letting go of the artist, who powerlessly witnesses the birth of the shape. Indeed, it slowly appears as the water evaporates, leaving only traces of pigment on the paper. After drying a long time, the paper is re-tautened. The creases and folds disappear, thus erasing all traces of the creation process.
The artist never knows how the paper will react to the mixture of water and ink, the chemistry taking place independently of her intention or control. These effects recreate the vitality and the unpredictable which participate to the work’s vibration.
Everything is about chance and control. It is necessary to find the just balance : too controled and the stain does not vibrate, too random and it spreads without limit. It is exactly what Gabriele is looking for : the tension created by these two forces gives life to her organic forms.
This letting go is not synonymic of an abandonment from the artist. Having opened her work to the unforeseen, Gabriele regains control and asserts her artist’s status by accepting, or not, the produced stains, refusing any alteration, neither improving nor decreasing the unpredictable effects, simply exploiting, but with a certain precision, the products of a fortunate coïncidence.
I met Gabriele by chance on June 23rd, 2013. Since then, her work as well as our discussions and exchanges have not stopped feeding my work and my thoughts.
2014