Angels on Earth - Claudine Drai & Wim Wenders Create Présence in Venice

Claudine Drai - Photo: Cat Bauer

(Venice, Italy) Claudine Drai has been sculpting angelic beings out of tissue paper since she was a child, reaching through the ether to tug heavenly creatures onto the earth. It is as if she can open a portal into the seraphic world and grab hold of some other-worldly material to crinkle into her molds. It is art that must be witnessed to be appreciated -- her paper sculptures radiate something spiritual that a photograph cannot grasp.

The French artist believed the one person who could capture the essence of her art was the German filmmaker, Wim Wenders, so Drai sought him out. Wenders, we remember, directed the magical Wings of Desire.

The synopsis, according to the Wim Wenders Stiftung Foundation:

WINGS OF DESIRE marked Wenders’ “homecoming” and was his first German film after eight years in the USA.

The main characters are guardian angels—benevolent, invisible beings in trench coats—who listen to the thoughts of mortals and attempt to comfort them. One of them, Damiel (Bruno Ganz), wishes to become human after he falls in love with the beautiful trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Dommartin). Peter Falk, played by himself, helps him during his transformation, by introducing him to life’s little pleasures.

The film is narrated from the perspective of the angels, who see the world in black and white. Only when Damiel becomes human does the world of color reveal itself to him. He leaves behind his old friend Cassiel (Otto Sander), who continues to be accompanied by Homer (Curt Bois), the “storyteller of humanity.”

The film has achieved cult status all around the world; in 1998, it was remade under the title CITY OF ANGELS, which features Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan in the lead roles.

After talking with Claudine Drai and seeing her ephemeral beings, Wenders agreed to work with her -- he did not know her before. Together, they created Présence, a 38 minute film in 3D, which is the core of the current angelic installation.

Claudine Drai works - Photo: Cat Bauer

Claudine Drai and Wim Wenders in Palazzo Polignac 

Now Claudine Drai has brought some of her celestial forms here to Venice, where they were on show at Palazzo Franchetti from April 21 to May 15, which I did not have a chance to see. Fortunately, now they on display inside the Magazzino Gallery at Palazzo Polignac until August 15.

When I first saw them, I felt like I was in the presence of something holy. Both Claudine Drai and Wim Wenders were at the opening on May 20, so we had the opportunity to hear first hand about how the project came to be.

Claudine Drai & Wim Wenders - Photo: Cat Bauer

This was not the first time I've had a chance to encounter Wim Wenders in the flesh, and think there is something honest and refreshing about him, in addition to a dash of heaven in his own work. I reminded him about how he said he'd never be on a jury again when he was the president of the Venice Film Festival jury back in 2008 and the Golden Lion -- the top prize of the festival for the best film -- had been awarded to The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke. The frustration was that the jury had not been able to award Rourke the prize for Best Actor because of Venice's quirky rule that one film could not win two awards -- since the film had won the Golden Lion, Mickey Rourke could not win Best Actor. Wenders strongly felt that both the film and Rourke deserved to win (the rule has since been changed:-).

Wim Wenders Declares: "I Will Never Be on a Jury Again!" - 65th Venice Film Festival

I also told him how much I had loved his film in 3D "If Buildings Could Talk" about the Rolex Learning Center shown during the 2010 Biennale International Architecture Festival, and how I had wept over its gentle beauty as I watched it over and over again:

If Buildings Could Talk - The Architects are Here! - Venice Biennale 2010

Claudine Drai - Photo: Cat Bauer

Now with Présence, Wenders has again applied his singular brush stroke to a 3D film. The auteur director said that he was deeply touched by Drai's creations as soon as he saw her work.

Here is Wim Wenders, in his own words, from a Sky video, about how the project developed:

"We made this film together over the last two and a half years. It is like nothing I've done before. It's like nothing that exists... It's not a film about an artist by a filmmaker. It's a common creation. And it's not really a movie -- it's a strange thing between an installation and a 3D film.

"It's in three dimensions because these beings that Claudine makes need to be seen in three dimensions with the space... they are very, very... They need the space. ...They live in the space. And you have to be able to participate and immerse in the space of her creations -- her beings, as she calls them. Her êtres.

"My look is something alive. I've seen her work and been touched by her work. And my look is also a translation. The film presents her and her work, and how she works, but it also presents my reception. It presents my look and what I feel when I see these beings and these amazing spiritual creations."

Présence - the art of Claudine Drai - a 3D installation by Wim Wenders is at the Magazzino Gallery in Palazzo Polignac at Dorsoduro 878 until August 15th. If you would like some heaven in your home, her works range from €30,000 to €75,000. She is represented by Antoine Clavé of Clavé Fine Art in Paris.

Ciao from Venezia,

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog