Aria, 1983-84
GPO-0529
Air
Two photo prints mounted between shaped plexiglas sheets, bay leaves, fragments of photo prints, plexiglas sheet, steel cable
Hanging part 210 x 190 cm, plexiglas sheet 100 x 100 cm
Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne – Château de Rochechouart, Rochechouart
Acquired in 1987 by Fonds national d’art contemporain, CNAP, Paris (inventory no. 3406);
from 1 February 1988 on loan, since 2007 assigned to the collection Musée départemental d’art contemporain, later Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne – Château de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, and in 2009 transferred to the museum, inventory no. 2009.11
The angel must be arranged at a distance of at least 80-100 cm from the ceiling so that it wavers freely, and at a distance of around 180-200 cm from the ground. For the work to be enjoyed it must have enough breathing room all around it (at least 150 cm away from any other works or architectural elements) and viewers must be able to walk all around it without there being any visual interferences. The exhibition space must be at least 5.50 metres in height, and the ceiling must be such that a suspension cable can easily be attached to it.
A winged figure made up of a photographic collage with pieces from the reproductions of works by Antonio Canova – mounted between two plexiglas shapes hanging down from the ceiling on a steel cable – wavers in mid-air in an upside-down position. On the ground a plexiglas sheet holds down some photographic details of other works by the artist cut out in the shape of a leaf, while scattered on top of the sheet and all around it are laurel leaves.
The title alludes to the condition of an unstable form, suspended in the air, and at the same time to the homonymous musical tune.
The same subject was developed in three other variants, made between 1983 (GPO-0502, GPO-0528) and 1988 (GPO-0626).
• Figure: Antonio Canova, Genio funebre from the Sepolcro di Clemente XIII, 1787-92, marble, 820 x 630 x 254 cm, Basilica di San Pietro, Rome; reproduction from L’opera completa di Canova. Classici dell’arte 213 (Milan: Rizzoli, 1976), plate XI.
• Wings: Antonio Canova, Genius on the right of the Cenotafio degli Stuart, 1817-19, marble, 560 x 280 x 140 cm, Basilica di San Pietro, Roma; reproduction from L’opera completa di Canova. Classici dell’arte 213 (Milan: Rizzoli, 1976), plates LVIII and LIX.
| 1985 | Paris, Galerie Maeght Lelong, Giulio Paolini. Melanconia ermetica, 14 May - 29 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 4 p. 32, not repr. |
| 1985-86 | Jouy-en-Josas, Fondation Cartier, Sculptures. Première approche pour un parc, 6 October 1985 - 15 January 1986, repr. p. 50 (exhibition view Paris 1985). |
| 1990 | Montbéliard, Musée du Château, Mémoires d’artistes, 16 June - 4 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 54, repr. p. 27. |
| 1990-91 | Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró, Antiguitat-modernitat en l’art del segle XX, 13 December 1990 - 10 February 1991, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 220, col. repr. p. 173. |
| 1991 | Paris, Espace Art Défense, 30 œuvres du Fonds National d’Art Contemporain à La Défense, 26 June - 26 September, entry by J.-F. Taddei p. 44, repr. p. 45. |
| 1994-95 | Bordeaux, capc Musée d’art contemporain, Pour les chapelles de Vence, 25 November 1994 - 19 February 1995, not repr. |
| 1996 | Nice, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Chimériques Polymères. Le plastique dans l’art contemporain, 29 June - 14 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 239, repr. p. 204, entry by J.L. Maubant p. 204. |
| 2005 | Reims, Palais du Tau, Anges, from 25 June, no catalogue. |
| 2018-19 | Milan, Fondazione Carriero, Giulio Paolini. Del Bello ideale, 26 October 2018 - 10 February 2019, col. repr. vol. 1 pp. 146-147, 148-149 (exhibition views), b/w repr. vol. 1 p. 174 (exhibition view Paris 1985). |
| • | G. Celant, The Knot Arte Povera (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1985), repr. p. 161 (exhibition view Paris 1985); Italian edition: Arte Povera (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1989), repr. p. 167; French edition: Arte Povera (Villeurbanne: Art Édition, 1989), repr. p. 175. |
| • | Neoclassico. La ragione, la memoria, una città: Trieste, edited by F. Caputo and R. Masiero (Venice: Marsilio Editori, 1990), repr. p. 24 (exhibition view Paris 1985); complementary volume to the exhibition catalogue Neoclassico. L’attualità: arte, architettura, design, Trieste, Civico Museo Revoltella, Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Venice: Marsilio Editori, 1990). |
| • | La Collection 1985-1991 (Rochechouart: Château de Rochechouart, Musée Départemental d’Art Contemporain, 1991), entry by G. Tosatto p. 100, col. repr. p. 101, cited in the list of works from the collection p. 142. |
| • | E. Clausen, “La vocazione teatrale dell’opera d’arte”, in Art’o 12 (Bologna), Autumn, 2002, repr. p. 34 (exhibition view Paris 1985). |
| • | G. Lista, Arte Povera (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2006), entry p. 49, col. repr. no. 34. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 529 p. 541, repr. (exhibition view Paris 1985). |
| • | Flying Too Close to the Sun. Myths in Art from Classical to Contemporary, edited by James Cahill (London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 2018), p. 86, repr. (exhibition view Paris 1985. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), repr. p. 193 (exhibition view Paris 1985), col. repr. pp. 286-287 (exhibition view Milan 2018). |
| • | “Lo stato dell’arte. 5 domande / 3 artisti. Intervista a Giulio Paolini”, in Inside Art 19, no. 128 (Rome), July, 2023, repr. pp. 72-73 (exhibition view Paris 1985). |
