Vis-à-vis (Amazzone) (1), 2019
GPO-1087
Vis-à-vis (Amazon) (I)
Plaster casts, white plinths, pencil and red pencil on primed canvas
Two casts h 42 cm each, two plinths 130 x 34 x 17 cm each, canvas 160 x 240 cm, overall dimensions 240 x 240 x 20 cm
Private collection
The two halves of a plaster cast of Polycleitus’ head of an Amazon are arranged to face each other – vis-à-vis as the title tells us – on two plinths positioned up against the canvas hanging on the wall. The drawing traced in pencil on the canvas depicts a room in perspective with a gallery of paintings; the diagonals traced in red pencil recall – in conceptual terms – the space of the representation, formulated by the artist ever since his first painting, Disegno geometrico, 1960 (GPO-0001).
The gazes exchanged between the two identical faces, in the background of this scenic space, questions the reasons for the very existence of the work and its coming into being through our own gaze.
The work, which was made in three variants, is part of the development of a theme conceived in 1992 with Vis-à-vis (Alessandro) (GPO-0707) and Vis-à-vis (Hera) (a multiple, GPE-0087) and revisited in 2020 with Vis-à-vis (Kore) (GPO-1090).
Polykleitos, Head of the Amazon, 5th century BC, Musei Vaticani, Rome.
| 2021 | Naples, Alfonso Artiaco, Giulio Paolini. Fuori quadro, 8 March - 1 June. |
