I am in
love with these posters and graphic design by Ivan A. Flores Clemente for the performance of 'Histoire du Soldat' by
the Inverness Stravinsky Players at the
Town house in Inverness ( 27th of March). The subtlety and
abstractness of the images is amazing. He really captured the atmosphere of the
time the music was made.
Ivan explains
to me about his work;
'Histoire du Soldat' was first premiered in Lausanne (Switzerland) on September 1918, and
was very well received, at a time when the Bauhaus was in gestation and the
Dutch movement De Stijl, founded a year earlier, was already conducting its
abstract investigations on primary colours and basic geometric shapes in its
quest for an ideal sense of order and harmony. Thus the context of this interesting
artistic period forms the departure point for the project.
All the project revolves around the three main characters of the piece (the
soldier, the princess, and the devil), but since the performance is aimed at
audiences of all ages and therefore seeks to engage with both adults as well as
children, it was a deliberate choice to not take an entirely abstract approach
and explore instead the vast imagery of architectural construction toys in the
tradition of toy blocks, which ultimately give the artwork a much better and
playful balance, in line with the original Russian folk tale on which the
theatrical work is based.
The posters
are for sale at the Leakey bookshop in Inverness. Maybe with a bit of luck they
will also sent them for people not living in Inverness, Scotland. (if you like Ivan's work, he started his own office you can contact him at Macflowers)
