Circus adaptation of Bosch’s surreal art to show Sunday

A circus adaptation of the surreal works of pioneer painter Hieronymus Bosch is to be staged Sunday at the Macau Cultural Center, combining impressive feats of physical movement with animated slides of the Dutch artist’s most famous works.

One of the most notable of the early Dutch painters, Bosch painted during the late-15th century and the early 16th, at the dawn of Europe’s Renaissance period.

Though his work retains much of the style and artistic arrangement used throughout the Middle Ages, Bosch was perhaps one of the earliest known artists to bring a touch of surrealism and humor to art. His experimentation is said to have influenced several contemporary movements, including surrealism itself, as well as psychedelic rock music and aspects of comedy.

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the painter’s death, The Bosch Foundation in Holland granted permission in 2013 for a partnership of Canadian troupe The 7 Fingers and Copenhagen-based Theatre Republique to create an original production, Bosch Dreams.

In Bosch Dreams, circus performers move gracefully on ‘living’ screens made by Ange Potier, a French-Argentine video artist, who has managed to resurrect Bosch’s paintings into the world of animation.

In a media interview yesterday, two performers from the show described the productions as – expectedly – surreal. Mathias Reymond and Sunniva Byvard also said that circus was a fitting medium for an original adaptation of Bosch’s works because of the art form’s inherent nature.

“I think that circus is a very good channel to portray this artist because in circus we have very obscure [body movements] and I think that connects with his paintings,” said Byvard. “When you look at it [Bosch’s work], people are flying all around and doing obscure things with their bodies… and this really relates to our craft. I think this is the perfect way to make a tribute to his work.”

The two performers agreed that Bosch’s influence can be detected in contemporary expression beyond the aging movements of surrealism and psychedelic rock.

“He still has an impact on the world today,” Reymond said. “It comes down to the general questions of good and evil; the struggle every person goes through throughout eternity. We will always have good and evil, and that’s what Bosch depicted.”

“He shows a lot of sensuality and fear and death [in his work], and these things will always be [relevant] to our times,” added Byvard.

Bosch’s work is both complicated and detailed.

His magnum opus, “The Garden of Earthly Delights” – featured prominently in the production – is a large triptych, 13 feet wide and 7 feet high depicting heaven, earth and hell on its three panes, and including dozens of people, animals, objects and monsters.

Asked whether bringing the works to a circus adaptation might be overwhelming for audiences, Reymond said, “I think that the work that went into this project before we actually started putting it on stage was so extensive that…  I was not ever worried [about that].”

“It’s important for this type of show not to dumb down [reduce] what he [Bosch] actually created, but instead really support it,” added his colleague, Byvard. “We emphasize all of the strange things you can already see [in his works].”