Galleria (II), 1991
GPO-1158
Gallery (II)
Black ink and red ink on photo print and on white paper, collage on white paper and on black paper, cut-outs
Four parts 60 x 50 cm each
Titled, signed, and dated on the verso of the fourth element, centre: “Galleria (II) / Giulio Paolini / 1991”
Private collection, Lugano
The four elements – each of them framed in a plexiglas case (so that through the cut-outs the wall behind it is visible), or in a thin black frame between two plexiglas sheets – are installed in a horizontal sequence and at short intervals from each other. Alternatively, the four elements can also be arranged in a row, almost touching, in a single plexiglas case.
The four collages placed at short intervals from each other make up a photographic gallery of the main art dealers who accompanied Paolini in his professional career. In the first collage, Gerd de Vries, Paul Maenz along with Paolini himself are intent on installing the work Ritratto dell’artista come modello (GPO-0445) for the solo show at the Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne, in the summer of 1981. The second element features the portraits of Ippolito Simonis (left) and Yvon Lambert (right). The third collage shows Christian Stein and Gianfranco Benedetti. In the fourth and last plate, Luciano Pistoi and Paolini observe a work on the wall, on which slanted light shines. The sequence of portraits is marked at the level of the faces, by a regular series of squares, some of which cut-outs, others outlined in pencil, others made up of black or white surfaces. In the first and last plate, the visual corners drawn in red pencil and mirror-like contain the sequence of images in the artist's gaze.
The title refers to both the context the protagonists belong to, the art gallery, and to the idea of a sequence of portraits of figures from the same period of time and profession. The numbering instead refers to a previous version, featuring a different portrait gallery (GPO-0275).
From left to right:
• Portrait of Gerd de Vries, Giulio Paolini and Paul Maenz taken by Benjamin Katz during the installation of Paolini's solo exhibition at Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne, 1989.
• Portrait of Ippolito Simonis taken by Gérard Amsellem, Turin, 1983 (on dark ground) and portrait of Yvon Lambert taken by André Morain, Paris, 1976 (on light ground).
• Portrait Christian Stein and Gianfranco Benedetti at the opening of Alighiero Boetti's solo exhibition, Villeurbanne, 1986, photographer unknown.
• Portrait of Luciano Pistoi and Giulio Paolini during the installation of the work La dea Iride, at the home of Paola Invrea, Tuscany, 1973.
