Felice Varini’s Square with four circles, downtown New Haven
Site Projects Inc is actively preparing for our 2010 public art commission by renowned Swiss artist Felice Varini.  A 110 ft tall, multi-planar painting, Square with four circles, will be installed in Temple Plaza.  This will be Varini’s first outdoor public artwork in the United States.  Opening ceremonies are scheduled for June 4th at 5 pm in Temple Plaza.  Events are free and open to the public.

Work on the execution of the artwork will take place both at nighttime and during the day.  The installation will be a performance piece in itself offering the public a unique opportunity to observe the artist’s process and the evolution of his artwork.  Beginning May 23rd at night and using a large format, high intensity projector, Varini will project the design into the darkened site.  Once the outlines are drawn by the artist and his team, the daytime work of painting the mural will begin.  Painting will be completed in the following 7 - 8 days.

The exhibition of the artwork will be on view through June 2011.  During that period, Site Projects will offer a series of programs that connect art, architecture, mathematics and technology to the ideas in Varini’s art.  Square with four circles will transform the pedestrian passageway from Chapel Street into Temple Plaza and include the exterior surfaces of the sculptural concrete exit ramp of the Crown Street garage.  The site of the artwork is contiguous not only to New Haven Green but also to the Shubert Theater and Zinc restaurant. 

A second interior Varini artwork will be installed in the New Haven Free Public Library during the summer.  Photographs of earlier Varini projects will be exhibited in the Yale University Art Gallery.  Related paintings by students at Coop High School who have been studying Varini’s work and who will work with the artist during his residency in New Haven will be exhibited at 210 College Street.

http://siteprojects.org