Tout se tient, 1989-98
GPO-0809
Collage on velvet display, xerox reproduction, smoky plexiglas sheet and case
27 x 27 x 27 cm
Private collection, Rome
A dark blue velvet jewelry bust arranged inside a dark plexiglas case – to make the object inside more mysterious and precious – is associated with the image of the planetary orbits, outlined in white against a black background. The middle part of the drawing is cut out and constitutes the “pearl” exhibited by the bust, which at the same time also evokes the twisting of several strands of necklaces.
The title – borrowed from linguistics, designating a whole in which all the parts are coherent and interrelated1 – alludes to celestial iconography, representing the model of perfection where everything is complete par excellence.
The same theme was developed in two previous variants, made in 1989 (GPO-0641, GPO-0655), which are distinguished for the different “jewel” evoked on the necklace bust.
1 The locution comes from the phrase “Chaque fait linguistique fait partie d’un ensemble où tout se tient” (every linguistic fact is part of a whole in which everything is connected to everything else), varyingly attributed to Antoine Meillet and to Ferdinand de Saussure.
Title from a sentence variously ascribed to Antoine Meillet and to Ferdinand de Saussure (“Chaque fait linguistique fait partie d’un ensemble où tout se tient”).
| 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. 8 p. 180 (erroneously dated “1989-94”), not repr. |
| 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. 1 p. 37 (erroneously dated “1989-94”), col. repr. p. 98. |
| 2000-01 | Frankfurt, European Central Bank, Immagini. Arte italiana dal 1942 ai nostri giorni, 29 November 2000 - 5 March 2001, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 139 (erroneously dated “1989-94”), col. repr. p. 75. |
| 2001 | Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Oggi per domani. Cinque artisti contemporanei nella Collezione BSI, 18 May - 2 September. |
| 2004 | Rome, Museo del Corso, Ori d’Artista. Il Gioiello nell’Arte Italiana 1900-2004, 30 March - 27 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 131, col. repr. p. 78. |
| 2005 | Milan, Fonte d’Abisso Arte, Nello spazio nel cosmo, 17 March - 26 May, cat. no. 23 (erroneously dated “1989-94”), col. repr. p. 79. no. 23, referred to in the text by A. Masoero p. 22. |
| 2006 | Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, 6 April - 16 July, col. repr. p. 71 (erroneously dated “1989-94”). |
| 2007 | Torre Pellice, Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, selected works by the artists represented by the gallery, from 29 September. |
| 2008 | Carrara, Aula Magna dell’Accademia di Belle Arti, XIII Biennale Internazionale di Scultura di Carrara. Nient’altro che scultura, 27 July - 28 September, not repr., referred to in the text by R. Ferrario p. 52 / 53. |
| 2011 | Verona, Studio La Città, AD LUCEM. Arte Contemporanea per Arvo Pärt, 1 October - 26 November, col. repr. no. 21 (erroneously dated "1989"; caption p. 63, with incorrect number of Catalogue Raisonné referred to another version of Tout se tient); col. repr. in the photographic album published by the gallery on the occasion of the exhibition (exhibition view). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 809 p. 829, col. repr. |
