Notti bianche, 1994
GPO-0723
White Nights
Framed photo print, plexiglas sheets, white pencil, sheet of drawing paper
Photo frame 60 x 50 cm, two plexiglas sheets 100 x 100 cm each, overall dimensions 63 x 156 x 130 cm
Private collection
• 1994, Genoa, Galleria Locus Solus: the portrait frame is surrounded by four blank sheets and four black and white reproductions of a star chart, arranged in an alternating sequence underneath the plexiglas sheet.
• 1999, Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea: the photograph is surrounded by various blank sheets in random order.
A black portrait frame holding the photograph of a man with his head on his arms is located at the centre of a blank sheet of drawing paper, held down by two staggered plexiglas sheets, and facing a white pencil fastened to the sheets so that it is vertical.
The position of the protagonist correlated to the sheet and the pencil can be understood as a metaphor for the artist awaiting inspiration. In the artist's own words: "The title's allusion to sleepless nights recalls the symbolic solitude of the role of the author who is abandoned to the never-ending wait for enlightenment".1
The same theme was also developed in two other versions, an early one from 1990 (GPO-0661), and one made in 2000 (GPO-0853).
1 G. Paolini in conversation with M. Disch (2005), in M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 661 p. 677.
Image from the advertising page for the men’s perfume Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior.
| 1994 | Genoa, Galleria Locus Solus, Giulio Paolini. Locus Solus, from 25 February, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. E1 p. 73, col. repr. p. 35. |
| 1998 | Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum, Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, 4 April - 31 May, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 4 p. 181, repr. p. 311. |
| 1999 | Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, 8 May - 25 July, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 34 p. 38, col. repr. pp. 96-97 (exhibition view Graz 1998), 99, 114 (exhibition view Turin 1999). |
| 2004 | Rome, Galleria dell’Oca, Giulio Paolini. Carte segrete, 5 November 2004 - 10 January 2005. |
| • | G. Paolini in conversation with M. Disch (2005), in M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 661 p. 677. |
| • | A. Querci, “Giulio Paolini, la métaphore du damier”, in El guía. Art de l’arc méditerranéen 7, no. 2 (Barcelona), February, 1994, col. repr. p. 63 (exhibition view Genoa 1994). |
| • | F. Pasini, “Giulio Paolini. Una mostra lunga un anno”, in Flash Art 184 (Milan, Italian edition), May, 1994, repr. p. 22 (exhibition view Genoa 1994). |
| • | Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti. Appendice V (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana Treccani, 1995), col. repr. no. 4 plate no. VI (exhibition view Genoa 1994). |
| • | M. D’Alessandro, L. Laureati, “Giulio Paolini. Le cose, materia di disegno”, in Disegno industriale 13 (Rome), 2005, col. repr. pp. 100, 101 (exhibition view Rome 2004). |
| • | G. Paolini, Quattro passi. Nel museo senza muse (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2006), plate no. X (exhibition view Graz 1998). |
| • | G. Paolini, Per un verso o per l’altro. E altro ancora, vol. E altro ancora (Brescia: Edizioni l’Obliquo, 2007), repr. no. 1 p. 8 (exhibition view Graz 1998). |
| • | Risonanze #2. Giulio Paolini & Fabio Vacchi, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Spazio Risonanze, Auditorium Parco della Musica (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2008), repr. p. 62 (exhibition view Rome 2004). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 723 p. 738, col. repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), col. repr. pp. 227 (exhibition view Graz 1998), 231 (exhibition view Turin 1999). |
