Dall’Atlante al Vuoto in ordine alfabetico, 2010
GPE-0123
From Atlas to Void in Alphabetical Order
Die-cut lithograph and collage
40 x 60 cm
Signed on the recto, on the left, on the envelope: “Giulio Paolini”
Autograph numbering on the recto, on the left, on the envelope
200 in Arabic numerals from 1/200 to 200/200
30 in Roman numerals from I/XXX to XXX/XXX
Christian Stein Edizioni, Milan
Mondadori Electa, Milan
The print was produced by Christian Stein Edizioni, Milan – which from 2009 to 2014 was part of the Galleria Christian Stein’s activity, and involved the production and presentation of multiplied works – in collaboration with the publishing house Electa, Milan, on the occasion of the publication of the book by Paolini titled Dall’Atlante al Vuoto in ordine alfabetico. The volume edited by Sergio Risaliti reproduces, in a revised and enlarged version, the glossary of words published in G. Paolini, La verità in quattro righe e novantacinque voci, Giulio Einaudi editore, Turin 1996.
Light grey box on the outside, red on the inside, 41 x 60.5 x 3.5 cm, on the front board white label with handwritten titles in black (author, title). Contains the plate inserted in a bi-folio featuring the colophon and a biographical note about the artist (first side); inside the red counter-box is a copy of the book Dall’Atlante al Vuoto in ordine alfabetico.
Giulio Paolini, Dall’Atlante al Vuoto in ordine alfabetico, edited by Sergio Risaliti (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2010). 29.5 x 21 cm, 160 pages, bound, cover design by the artist. Glossary of writings by the author, essay by Sergio Risaliti, colour plates. Print run unknown, 230 copies come with the edition in a special case.
Includes information regarding printing technique, measurements, edition size, and publisher.
Biographical note of the artist by Maddalena Disch.
The photographic reproduction of the artist's hand, associated with the image of a red pencil, converses with three rectangles that are placed so that they are askew to each other, and of the same size as the photograph. The pencil is turned towards the closed envelope bearing the signature and the edition number.
The gesture of the hand, which attempts to stop the pencil and the scattered "sheets", alludes to the search for the instant when everything is composed in a fulfilled image.1 At the same time, the hand evokes the desire to touch an ungraspable dimension, whose intimate secret is enclosed in the envelope.
The title harkens back to that of the artist's book of writings for which the print was made.
In 2011 the artist used the print for the work Voyage autour de ma chambre, featuring an open envelope revealing the detail of a geographic atlas (GPO-1006).
1 The photograph of the hand, introduced in 1992 in the work Passatempo, 1992 (GPO-0706) and used on several occasions, is especially the protagonist of the two versions of Omissis, made in 1997-98 (GPO-1129, GPO-0803), and of a work on paper, made during the same year as the print, titled Senza titolo (Io/Identità) (GPC-1175).
| 2010-11 | Milan, Christian Stein Edizioni, Giulio Paolini. Dall'Atlante al Vuoto in ordine alfabetico, 13 December 2010 - 26 February 2011. |
| 2011-12 | Vence, Château de Villeneuve, Fondation Émile Hugues, De Man Ray à Pistoletto, chronique d'une collection en mouvement, 3 December 2011 - 8 January 2012, no catalogue; edition XVII/XXX. |
| 2013 | Vence, Château de Villeneuve, Fondation Émile Hugues, La fabrique d'une collection, 2 March - 12 May, no catalogue. |
| 2023 | Milan, Libreria Antiquaria Pontremoli, Arte Povera, 16 February - 2 March, col. repr. p. 88, entry by R. Colombo and C. Lietti; edition 196/200. |
