Contatto, 1969
GPO-0170
Contact
Photo emulsion on canvas
42 x 64 cm (two parts 42 x 32 cm each)
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso of the first canvas, upper stretcher bar: “Giulio Paolini / Un ritratto (di Man Ray) / 1969”; signed and dated on the verso of the second canvas, upper stretcher bar, centre: “Giulio Paolini / 1969”
Private collection, Bergamo
The two photographic canvases placed side by side reproduce a self-portrait of Man Ray, made in 1931, and a portrait of Giorgio de Chirico, taken by Man Ray himself in 1934. The vis-à-vis simulated by way of the two images, which are extraneous to each other, traces back over the instant of the actual "contact" that took place between the two artists at the time of Man Ray's portrait.
The imaginary conversation triggered by bringing together two distinct moments in time corresponds to the contemporary variant entitled Ombra portata (GPO-0169).
• Man Ray, Autoportrait, 1931, gelatin silver print.
• Man Ray, Portrait de Giorgio de Chirico, 1934, gelatin silver print.
| 1988 | Milan, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Presi per incantamento: la nuova fotografia internazionale, 8 June - 18 July, repr. p. 114. |
| 1991 | Munich, Kunstverein München, Arte Povera 1971 und 20 Jahre danach, 26 April - 20 May, col. repr. no. 13 (as Un ritratto (di Man Ray)). |
| 1994 | Trevi, Trevi Flash Art Museum, Palazzo Lucarini, Ritratto Autoritratto, July, repr. n. pag. |
| 2010-11 | Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Il Museo Privato. La passione per l'arte contemporanea nelle collezioni bergamasche, 6 October 2010 - 14 February 2011, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 57 p. 102, repr. pp. 44, 57 (exhibition views). |
| 2016-17 | New York, Center for Italian Modern Art, Giorgio de Chirico – Giulio Paolini / Giulio Paolini – Giorgio de Chirico, 14 October 2016 - 24 June 2017, col. repr. pp. 18, 23 (exhibition views). |
| • | M. Fagiolo, "Glossario", in Giulio Paolini (Parma: Università di Parma, Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione, 1976), p. 20, repr. no. 122. |
| • | C. Christov-Bakargiev, "Arte Povera 1967-1987", in Flash Art 137 (Milan, international edition), November-December, 1987, repr. p. 68. |
| • | F. Alfano Miglietti, "Arte Concettuale e Arte Povera", in Id., Arte in Italia 1960-1985 (Milan: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 1988), repr. p. 75. |
| • | Special Affects. The Photographic Experience in Contemporary Art (Milan: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 1989), repr. p. 114. |
| • | M. Fagiolo Dell’Arco, "Giulio Paolini, ‘Villa Medici 1331996’", in Giulio Paolini. Correspondances, exhibition catalogue, Rome, French Academy, Villa Medici (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1996), p. 24, repr. p. 23. |
| • | Daniel Buren, Dan Graham, Giulio Paolini, exhibition booklet, Pordenone, Casa Furlan, 1996, repr. s.p. |
| • | V. Dehò, "Philosophia picta", in Meta.fisica: arte e filosofia da De Chirico all’Arte concettuale / Kunst und Philosophie von de Chirico bis zur Konzeptkunst, exhibition catalogue, Merano, Kunst Meran im Haus der Sparkasse / Merano arte edificio Cassa di Risparmio (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2003), pp. 33-34 (German), 18-19 (Italian), repr. p. 27 (erroneously dated "1967"). |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), repr. p. 237. |
| • | A. Rabottini, "La passione trasparente. Note sull’arte di Giulio Paolini, emergenze recenti ecc.", in Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2006), repr. p. 37. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 170 p. 189, repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini / Giorgio de Chirico, edited by A. Cortellessa (Turin: Nino Aragno editore, 2019), col. repr. p. 72. |
