"Iron" of the opera becomes black and white sea

"Far from here" is the title of the new work of art that decorates the iron curtain of the Vienna Opera House during the 2018/19 season. The Belgian artist Pierre Alechinsky designed the space of 176 square meters.

An iron curtain of the State Opera, "the most beautiful setting in the world," shows off the sea in black and white, as said the director of the National Opera, Dominique Meyer, during the presentation. Alechinsky, who has just turned 91, is devoting himself more and more to reducing resources and concentrating form in his long-time interest in printmaking.

Memory of the Atlantic Wall

He creates 2,000 lithographs and decides to evoke the sea for the national opera. This is a reminder of the Atlantikwall, he said in an interview with the jury member, Hans-Ulrich Obrist. "The sea was supposed to wait for the one coming from the sea." She also considers it a biographical note, according to Albertina curator Antonia Hoerschelmann. Alechinsky's family had Russo-Jewish ancestors from Odessa.

APA / Georg Hochmuth

The design is reminiscent of a black and white sea

The deep black, which occupies a large space on the surface and separates a surface of water traversed by the waves of the horizon, she sees in the sense of an inner darkness that carries Alechinsky throughout his life. The artist, one of the central figures of the French group CoBrA and awarded this year by the "Praemio Imperiale", still creates in his work a "bridge between Western and Asian European culture", Kathrin Messner of " museum in progress "who are responsible for implementing the Rideau project.

Alechinsky as Meyer's favorite candidate

For the director, Meyer Alechinsky was also a personal candidate for the design of the Iron, played every season since 1998 by another internationally renowned artist. He had met many years ago when Alechinsky was appointed by the French Ministry of Culture. Meyer worked there as a consultant.

He is all the more pleased to announce his work to some 600,000 opera visitors and 280,000 guided tours of the house. The artist himself notes in the interview that he will spend more time in front of the large format photo than usual in a museum or gallery. "Here they are condemned for consideration."