Novero, 1998
GPO-0825
Group
Pencil on wall
Overall dimensions variable
Collection of the artist
• 1998, Brescia, Galleria Massimo Minini: the module (80 x 80 cm) of the pattern drawn on the four walls of the room is determined by the dimensions of the canvases making up the principal work on display, Big Bang (GPO-0823). Included in the middle row of the triple order of squares are the other eight works making up the exposition, each of them corresponding to one unit of the drawn grid (GPO-0797, GPO-0798, GPO-0818, GPO-0819, GPO-0820, GPO-0821, GPO-0822, GPO-0824).
• 1999, Weimar, Neues Museum: the unit of measure of the grid (100 x 100 cm) developed over eight parallel orders is determined by the dimensions of Senza titolo (GPO-0073). The sequence of the drawing is both intersected by paintings of various sizes and interrupted by the voids corresponding to the three-dimensional works on display.
• 2006, Bergamo, GAMeC: Novero occupies the wall in two distinct rooms and the measurements of the base modules (45 x 70 e 30 x 40 cm, respectively) of the two patterns derive from the dimensions of the sheets hanging from a nylon thread in the works Aula di pittura (2006) and Aula di disegno (2006). The regular painting gallery of virtual works converses with a gallery of real works featuring different formats, which freely overlap the former.
Closely linked to the other works on display in the same room, Novero involves a regular pattern, a potentially unlimited one, of identical squares or rectangles drawn at regular intervals and in parallel orders across the entire width of one or more walls (the perimetral modules are interrupted by the limits of the walls). The basic units and the extent of the grid vary depending on the exhibition space: the module is defined by the dimensions of an element making up another work or by the dimensions of another work on display, and the pattern made in pencil is interrupted in the points where other works on the wall coincide with the units of the drawing. The cadence of the drawn squares underscores the wall as a surface on which all the paintings possible can follow each other, appear, and disappear ad infinitum.
The same title was also used for five previous works, made in 1977 and in 1979 (GPO-0352, GPO-0353, GPO-0368, GPO-0369, GPO-0405), while the same theme was used in a later variant, made in 1999 (GPO-0834).
| 1998-99 | Brescia, Galleria Massimo Minini, Giulio Paolini. Big Bang, 2 December 1998 - 30 January 1999. |
| 1999 | Weimar, Neues Museum, Auffrischender Wind aus wechselnden Richtungen. Internationale Avantgarde seit 1960: Die Sammlung Paul Maenz, 1 January - 31 December, col. repr. p. 321 (exhibition view), entry by H. Dickel p. 120 cat. no. 84A (erroneously listed as a work belonging to the Collection). |
| 2006 | Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, 6 April - 16 July, col. repr. pp. 50-51, 82-83 (exhibition views). |
| • | Die Sammlung Paul Maenz Neues Museum Weimar. Band I: Objekte, Bilder, Installationen (Weimar/Ostfildern-Ruit: Neues Museum and Hatje Cantz Verlag, 1999), entry by H. Dickel p. 120 cat. no. 84 (erroneously listed as a work belonging to the collection), col. repr. p. 321 (exhibition view Weimar 1999). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Turin: Hopefulmonster, 1999), col. repr. p. 68 (exhibition view Weimar 1999). |
| • | Il critico come curatore, edited by M. Bortolotti (Cinisello Balsamo-Milan: Silvana Editoriale and Artshow Edizioni, 2003), col. repr. pp. 112-113 (exhibition view Brescia 1998). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 825 p. 847, col. repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), col. repr. pp. 232-233 (exhibition view Brescia 1998). |
