Cratilo, 1978-83
GPO-0485
Cratylus
Pencil on lithographic print and on drawing paper, plexiglas sheet, collage on wall
Plexiglas sheet 106 x 83 cm, overall dimensions variable 305 x 425 cm
Private collection, Turin
The figure drawn on the wall, seen from behind and associated with a plexiglas sheet that it seems to hold before it, gazes at a hypothetical painting, evoking a stand-in for the viewer. In the trajectory of its gaze is a reproduction of the torso of the Eros of Centocelle, hanging on a wall behind a plexiglas sheet. The antique torso is the model for the drawn figure, which reproduces the profile in natural size. Only the upper part of the body of the figure is traced and it appears at the centre of a multitude of sheets of drawing paper, scattered on the wall gradually thinning out towards the edges of the visual field.
The title refers back to the name of the Greek philosopher, who inspired Plato's famous dialogue on the problem of language.
The work is a reformulation, with the addition of blank sheets, of a first version made in 1977 (hence, the double date, cf. GPO-0387).
Eros of Centocelle, Roman copy of the 4th century BC Eros by Praxiteles, h 79 cm, Musei Vaticani, Rome.
| 1983 (?) | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, [unknown dates], installation of works not included in the exhibition. |
| 1986 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli, Ouverture II, from June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 65 p. 83, col. repr. p. 65 (catalogue published in 1987). |
| 1986-87 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli, Markus Lüpertz, Giulio Paolini: figure, colonne, finestre, 19 December 1986 - 29 March 1987, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 48 p. 117, col. repr. p. 130 (exhibition view). |
| 1989 | Cologne, Rheinhallen der Kölner Messe, Bilderstreit. Widerspruch, Einheit und Fragment in der Kunst seit 1960, 8 April - 28 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 539 p. 526, repr. p. 283 (exhibition view Rivoli 1986-87). |
| • | Incrocio: un racconto, exhibition catalogue, Erice, “La Salerniana” (Milan: Nuove edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, 1987), repr. p. 62 (exhibition view Rivoli 1986-87). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Casa di Lucrezio, 1981-84, visitor’s guide, Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’arte contemporanea, 1987, col. repr. (installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, 1986, detail). |
| • | Il mito e il classico nell’arte contemporanea italiana 1960-1990, exhibition catalogue, Sarzana, Fortezza Firmafede (Milan: Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, 1995), repr. p. 18 (exhibition view Rivoli 1986-87). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), col. repr. p. 254. |
| • | M. Unterdörfer, Die Rezeption der Antike in der Postmoderne: der Gipsabguss in der italienischen Kunst der siebziger und achtziger Jahre (Weimar: VDG Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften, 1998), pp. 52, 169, cat. no. 37 p. 142, not repr. |
| • | Castello di Rivoli 20 anni d’arte contemporanea (Rivoli-Milan: Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Skira editore, 2005), col. repr. p. 64 (exhibition view Rivoli 1986-87). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 485 p. 498, col. repr. |
