2017 | 31 x 26 cm | 12.2" x 10.2" | oil on canvas | bead embroidered dress by GUCCI
2017 | 31 x 26 cm | 12.2" x 10.2" | oil on canvas | rhinestone and pearl embroidered tulle dress by GUCCI
FAUST I
2017 | oil on canvas
Into the world of strife,
Out of this lonely life
That of senses and sap has betrayed thee,
They would persuade thee.
This nursing of the pain forego thee,
That, like a vulture, feeds upon thy breast!
The worst society thou find’st will show thee
Thou art a man among the rest.
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous play about the miserable doctor and alchemist - and his contradictory inclinations towards both a reclusive live hidden away in his tower and the relentless dread of missing out his fortune in the outside world - is best summarised in the popular quote:
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Two souls, alas! reside within my breast,
And each withdraws from, and repels, its brother.
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These lines and the ancient human conflict they address inspired generations of artists to illustrate the encounter of the figure Faust with his personalised doubt - the devil Mephistopheles. The Faust I Trilogy consists of three paintings dealing with the ideas of doubt, fear, desperation, temptation, misleading and falsehood, as well as the notions of belief, disbelief and disappointed hope which are met in the play. Rooted in medieval and renaissance religious iconography the paintings portray conservative christian thoughts and their promises with ambiguous titles such as Falsehood. Questions of true good and evil and the duality of things in Temptation and Falsehood culminate in the polychromatic palette of the centerpiece Pact.
All together they're organised and designed like a Tryptich usually found on a christian altar from the early renaissance.
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The colorful and enigmatic impression as well as the costume like character of the three dresses by GUCCI made them the perfect choice for this take on the subject. They were part of the Resort 2017, Spring/Summer 2017 and Fall/Winter 2016 Collections designed by Alessandro Michele.