Giulio Paolini, Elea, 2009, Sculpture in Cardboard, Plaster, Acrylic Glass & Print

Giulio Paolini
Plaster cast, acrylic glass plate, lithograph on die-cut cardboard
Cast h 14.5 cm, plate Ø 47 cm, lithograph 33 x 41 cm, overall dimensions 15 x 47 x 47 cm
150 copies in Arabic numerals and 15 artist's proofs
Edition 95/150 ex.
Bank of Italian Switzerland, Lugano
Published in the Catalogue raisonné of the works of Giulio Paolini

The plaster bust of the Greek philosopher Parmenides is placed on a plate of circular acrylic glass, which holds a shaped photographic image - as if consisted of two rounds offset from each other - in turn placed on a sheet
white sheet bearing a linear outline. The printed image reproduces a sky night with planetary motifs and with a repeated image of the face of Parmenides, from time to time rotated by 45 degrees, so that the cast appears to
orbiting in cosmic space.
In the artist's words, "Elea, an ancient Greek colony - a name that today does not designates no place - was situated on the coast of Cilento near of the present city of Salerno: it was the seat of the Eleatic School, a pre-Socratic philosophy which had in Parmenides its main exponent. The image that here evokes it, far from any territorial reference, alludes to the light-years traversed by the figures of Time: Parmenides' face seems to find itself and recognize itself in the reflection in negative situated between the celestial bodies."

G. Paolini, note given in the colophon accompanying the edition

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Info

Each graphic work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and provenance (signature and embossed stamp with description, photographic reference and numbering) issued in accordance with the law as authorized publishers/subjects.

The works are viewable in Rimini/Riccione, by appointment, without any obligation and kept in the protective folder without frame, intact and in perfect condition - any possible exceptions are always reported in the description.

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Biography

(b. Genoa 1940). An exponent of the conceptual avant-garde, through continuous experimentation with techniques and materials he has developed a personal dialectical reflection on art, with particular attention to the relationship between artist and viewer. Present in the most important Italian and foreign museums, he received, among other awards, an honorable mention at the 12th São Paulo Biennial in Brazil (1973), the Fonta Prize. Life and works Settled in Turin since 1952, he studied at the Institute of Graphic and Photographic Arts. Through photographs, reproductions, casts, and collages, his research tends to analyze the structures of art in a dialectical position towards the history of images and their relationship with the viewer. His works, featured in major national and international exhibitions, include: Young Man Looking at Lorenzo Lotto (1967); Apotheosis of Homer (1970-71); Mimesis (1975); De pictura (1979); Portrait of the Artist as Model (1980); Caryatids (1980); Contemplator enim (1991); Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (2002). In addition to invitations to the Venice Biennale (1979, 1976,1984,1993, 1997) and Documenta in Kassel (1977, 1982, 1993), since 1964, the year of his first solo exhibition at the Galleria la Salita in Rome, P. has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. Recent solo exhibitions include those at the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin (1998-99), the Galleria d'Arte Moderna Palazzo Forti in Verona (2001); the Kunstmuseum in Winterthur and Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Münster (2005); the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo (2006); the Macro in Rome (2013); and the Castello di Rivoli in Turin (2020). Since 1969 P. has devoted intense activity to the theater in the creation of various theater sets, in collaboration with C. Quartucci. Among his most recent projects are.