Beverly Pepper

Beverly Pepper (1922, New York – 2020, Todi)

In the park, in front of the Tea House, there’s a basin-shaped lawn where, until the 1980s, a majestic treedominated the slope. Since his arrival at Celle, Giuliano Gori had envisioned an open-air theater for this space, to the extent that he had declared this area of the park off-limits to potential artistic interventions. He often discussed the potential of the site with the landscape architect Pietro Porcinai, who envisioned some imaginative solutions, including a project to mechanically shield the area from sunlight. The name of Beverly Pepper was mentioned several times during conversations between Gori and Porcinai, and in 1985, following the fall of the large tree, the three individuals met on the site. Pepper became one of only two artists to be directly assigned a space by the commissioner.

In the meantime, unfortunately, Pietro Porcinai passed away, and two years after their meeting, Beverly Pepper began an intense design phase for her artwork, which is documented by numerous drawings conserved in the Collection’s Archive. Facilitated by her residence in Umbria, the artist made many site visits to oversee the construction and invited Giuliano Gori to join her at the foundry in Frosinone, where she cast the columns and low-relief panels used for the back walls, as well as the separate pieceElements of the Wall(currently displayed on the exterior wall of the bowling/bookshop). The deadline for the construction of the project coincided with the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Collection Gori to the public. On June 27, 1992, the SpazioTeatroCelle was inaugurated with the performance “L’OraalataWandererphantasie” by Daniele Lombardi, for which Beverly Pepper designed the sets and costumes. Giuliano Gori devoted a book written by Robert Hobbs to this extensive work: “Beverly Pepper allaFattoria di Celle” (published by Umberto Allemandi& co., Turin, 1998).

“It is this writer’s belief that Beverly Pepper’s many experiences with the architecture of the sacred inform the stages of her SpazioTeatro Celle. One might say that she reinvigorates the ancient idea of theater as a realm of the sacred by providing a series of thresholds of understanding or levels of liminality in which viewers take the role of pilgrims. The sacred is first announced by the twin columns Pepper has entitled, called Precursor Columns which function in a similar manner to the gatewayto an ancient theater.” Robert Hobbs in “Beverly Pepper alla Fattoria di Celle,” Umberto Allemandi & co., Turin, 1998, p. 23.

Works by the artist

Celle Theater Space: Filiate Walls, precursor columns

For more info:

beverlypepper.org