The Amerigo Folchi Tarot

The Amerigo Folchi Tarot
Amerigo Folchi, 1991

Here is a fun deck by the Italian artist Amerigo Folchi, published in 1991 by Italcards in a limited edition of 3000. Folchi had already created several tarot decks by this time, many of them in honor of historical places or events. His intention here was to design a deck with no commemorative references, one which relied only on his own wild imagination.

The recurring device which he used to tie these cards together are striped garments and handkerchiefs. The amusing scenes which result convey Folchi’s intention of a deck “rooted in contemporary existence and to its being self-deprecating and irreverent, both important qualities for criticizing and interpreting our present condition.”

The cards below show The Magician, a dark mysterious figure in the shadows, a small question mark over his face. He holds a hat from which a rabbit emerges. The image refers to the illusions which confront us, and the illusions which we create — which are sometimes more powerful than objective reality. We find another faceless image in The Wheel of Fortune, a figure holding a Roulette Wheel. Folchi considers this card “the classic stroke of luck” and advises us to take the chance when the advantageous proposal comes our way. The Star is one of the few cards which appears to have no garment or kerchief. It’s one of my favorites because of the fiery background texture and the way in whcih the stars wrap sensuously around the body. The image represents intimate human relationships and the blossoming of nature, ideas, and friendship. Trump XV, The Devil, shows a serpent weaving through a twisted knotted garment. The mythic apple is here, and there is a bulge beneath the cloth which implies that something else may be hidden—which may symbolize the greed, secrets and deception which Folchi says this card is meant to represent.

The minors and court cards grow in personality the more you look at them. The kerchiefs featured in these scenes appear to be alive, showing human emotion and posing with their props. I doubt if there is any divinatory significance to these arrangements but they are creative studies in composition; an art instructor could easily use such pip cards as the inspiration for still-life exercises, letting the students choose some malleable or expressive item that could be variously woven into ten card paintings of a suit of their choice.

The deck comes in an extremely sturdy box with a solid plastic tray to hold the cards. There is also a label on the bottom of the box which is stamped with the edition number. Two instruction booklets are included; one is written in English and Italian, the other in French and German. This colorful and creative deck can sometimes be found at Alida.

Review by Mark Filipas, 12/10/99