Hierapolis, 1983
GPE-0043
Lithograph
50 x 70 cm
Signed and dated on the recto, bottom right: “Giulio Paolini 1983”
Autograph numbering on the recto, bottom left
150 in Arabic numerals from 1/150 to 150/150
Unione Piemontese Sviluppo Edilizio, Turin
Marco Noire Editore, Turin
The print was commissioned from the artist by the Unione Piemontese Sviluppo Edilizio (UPSE), Turin, as a Christmas gift for its members.
Nine squares outlined in perspective and placed close together to form a square become, taken together, a drawing of columns viewed from bottom up. The central square, which is missing, appears to be broken through by the black and white photographic fragments of several exploded columns, associated with the torn details of colour reproductions of the sky.
At the centre of the composition, the convergence of antithetical points of view – the drawing viewed from bottom up and the fragments falling freely – brings the gaze back to the picture plane and the representation. Generally speaking, the two opposite perspectives suspend the definition of a complete image: the clarity of the geometric order, represented by the drawing, is offset by the disaggregation and dispersion that are evoked by the torn fragments. The ideality of the classical dimension, suggested by the image of the temple and the columns and sealed by the title that harkens back to the name of an ancient city, is lost just as it comes into view.
The title and the iconography connect the print to the large-scale work with the same title made the year before (GPO-0478).
The original collage on which the print is based is documented in the online Catalogue Raisonné of works on paper at number GPC-1672.
| 1992 | Bonn, Bonner Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Werk 1967-1992, 24 February - 29 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 45). |
| 1993 | Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das druckgraphische Werk 1967-1992, 16 January - 7 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 45). |
| 1995 | Lisbon, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian / Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Múltiplos e Obra Gráfica 1969-1995, 16 March - 28 May, not repr. in the exhibition brochure (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 45). |
| 1996 | Apolda, Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques, 27 September - 27 October (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 45). |
| 1997 | Göppingen, Kunsthalle, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Druckwerk 1967-1995, 9 March - 13 April (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 45). |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 45, col. repr. (artist’s proof); the caption is erroneously linked to catalogue number 46 in the unpaginated list of works. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999 , vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 478 p. 490, not repr. |
| • | Carte Noire. Noire Editions 1980/2015 (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2016), col. repr. n. pag. (artist’s proof). |
