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L’arte e lo spazio, 1983

GPE-0041

Art and Space

Photo-lithographs

Portfolio: four plates each 24 x 24 cm sewed onto four sheets of paper each 35 x 50 cm
Book: four plates each 24 x 17 cm folded, 24 x 34 cm open

Portfolio: signed on the verso of the third plate, on the left: “Giulio Paolini”
Book: signed on the colophon

Portfolio: autograph numbering on the verso of the third plate, on the left
Book: autograph numbering on the colophon

Portfolio: 50 in Arabic numerals from 1/50 to 50/50
Book: 100 in Arabic numerals from 1/100 to 100/100

Marco Noire Editore, Turin

The plates were produced by Marco Noire on the occasion of the publication of the essay by Martin Heidegger titled L’arte e lo spazio (Art and Space, original German title: Die Kunst und der Raum, 1969). The first collaboration between the artist and the Turin publisher of multiples and graphic editions – from 1983 owner of the Galleria Marco Noire – was the beginning of a long and prolific friendship; indeed, Noire became the main promoter and publisher of Paolini's graphic works.

Double-sided grey cardboard folder, with grey ribbon ties, closed format 51 x 35 cm; on the front board off-white label with titles in black and grey (author, title [”Quattro tavole originali per / L’arte e lo spazio / di Martin Heidegger”], publisher). Contains the four plates, with no accessory sheets.

Martin Heidegger, L’arte e lo spazio (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1983). 24.5 x 17.5 cm, 36 pages, bound, in hard slipcase. German text by the author with facing Italian translation, text by Gianni Vattimo, four out-of-text folded plates by Giulio Paolini are enclosed. Graphic design by Franco Mello. Limited edition of 250 numbered copies, of which 100 numbered and signed by the artist.

The colophon of the book includes information regarding the edition size of the book and of the print edition, author of the photographs (Paolo Pellion), graphic designer, place and date of printing (Turin, December 1983). Numbering and signature bottom centre.

The four plates, framed individually without a passepartout, can be arranged at short regular intervals from each other both lined up in a row horizontally or in two parallel rows. The predetermined sequence of the plates follows the points of the opening of the book reproduced in the images: one quarter in the first plate, halfway in the second, three-quarters in the third, and completely open in the last one.

The four photolithographs each present a bound book with blank pages, open each time in a different position: at a quarter in the first case, midway in the second, three quarters in the third, and completely open in the fourth. The book features some plaster fragments in its pages and is "leafed through" by the cast of a hand. “As if the process of writing (and reading) produced, page after page, a deposit of material (the text ponders and reflects on sculpture, as the place or eventuality itself of the form): until it confuses, dissolving the two elements, in other words, until it turns the text into sculpture",1 the artist says.
The prints exist in a dual version. The portfolio titled Quattro tavole originali per “L’arte e lo spazio” di Martin Heidegger contains the four photolithographs each of them sewn on a slightly larger sheet of paper. A limited print run of the book L’arte e lo spazio includes the four plates folded and enclosed in the points where the book is opened and depicted in the images, respectively at a quarter, a half, three-quarters, and at the back.
The same iconographic theme was formulated in four plastic works with the same title, made during the same year (GPO-0494, GPO-0495, GPO-0496, GPO-0497). In 2009 the four photolithographs were used by the artist for two works on paper (GPC-1146, GPC-1147).

1 G. Paolini in an unpublished and undated note, held in the artist’s archive. The photos taken by Paolo Pellion reproduce four situations set up by the artist for the occasion.

Photographs taken by Paolo Pellion.

1984 Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, vol. Images/Index, repr. pp. 60-61 (unknown photograph); book.
1984 Spoleto, XXVII Festival dei Due Mondi, Palazzo Rosari Spada, Giulio Paolini. La Casa di Lucrezio, 27 June - 16 July, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 30, repr. p. 51 (unknown photograph); portfolio.
1984 Bologna, Studio G7, Giulio Paolini, from 1 December; book.
1985 Paris, Galerie Maeght Lelong, Giulio Paolini. Melanconia ermetica, 14 May - 29 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 32, repr. pp. 27, 28-29; portfolio.
1985 Nice, Centre National d’Art Contemporain Villa Arson, L’Italie aujourd’hui. Aspects de la création italienne de 1970 à 1985 / Italia oggi. Aspetti della creatività italiana dal 1970 al 1985, 14 June - 14 October, repr. p. 108 (third plate), referred to in the text by A. Lugli p. 104.
1985 Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca, Giulio Paolini. Tutto qui, 15 June - 22 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 42 p. 119, not repr. (reproduction no. 42 illustrates an unidentified version); book.
1985-86 Montreal, Musée d’art contemporain, Giulio Paolini, 7 July - 8 September, touring to: Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, 29 November 1985 - 19 January 1986, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition Villeurbanne 1984; book.
1986 Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Giulio Paolini, 15 February - 30 March, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition Villeurbanne 1984; book.
1986 London, Hayward Gallery, Falls the Shadow. Recent British and European Art. 1986 Hayward Annual, 9 April - 15 June 1986, not repr; portfolio.
1986 Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, 20 September - 2 November, vol. 4 La visione / Die Vision, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 119 no. 47; vol. 2 Il Museo / Das Museum, repr. p. 36; portfolio.
1986-87 Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli, Markus Lüpertz, Giulio Paolini: figure, colonne, finestre, 19 December 1986 - 29 March 1987, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 117 no. 54, not repr.; portfolio.
1989 Turin, Salone del Libro, Impressions graphiques. Progetti e collaborazioni editoriali di Giulio Paolini, 12-18 May, cat. no. 9 (section “Edizioni a tiratura numerata”), repr.; portfolio.
1990 London, Anna Bornholt Gallery, Chiasmus, 4 May - 14 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works n. pag., repr. n. pag.; book.
1992 Bonn, Bonner Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Werk 1967-1992, 24 February - 29 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 42); portfolio.
1993 Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das druckgraphische Werk 1967-1992, 16 January - 7 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 42); portfolio.
1994 Prato, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Di carta e d’altro. Libri d’artista, 3-30 June, repr. p. 58; book, edition 91/100.
1994 Brescia, Sala dei SS. Filippo e Giacomo di Brescia, Pagine, libri, luglio, repr. no. VIII (in the unpaged caption erroneously dated “1984”); portfolio.
1995 Lisbon, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian / Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Múltiplos e Obra Gráfica 1969-1995, 16 March - 28 May, repr. in the exhibition brochure (plates second and fourth) (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 42); portfolio.
1996 Apolda, Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques, 27 September - 27 October (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 42); portfolio.
1997 Göppingen, Kunsthalle, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Druckwerk 1967-1995, 9 March - 13 April (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 42); portfolio.
1999 Mantua, Museo Virgiliano di Pietole, Opere in forma di libro, 7 September - 10 October, repr. p. 42; book, edition 91/100.
2000 Turin, Archivio di Stato, Tirannicidi II-III: la Stampa e la Fotografia, 6 September - 15 October.
2000-01 Bologna, Studio G7, Giulio Paolini. Opere Grafiche, 16 December 2000 - 20 January 2001; book.
2001 Milan, Association Jacqueline Vodoz et Bruno Danese, Impressions Graphiques. L’opera grafica di Giulio Paolini, 1967-2000, 17 May - 22 June, not repr.; portfolio.
2001 Strasbourg, CEAAC Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines, Giulio Paolini, 13 October - 23 December, no catalogue.
2002 Paris, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Impressions graphiques. L’œuvre graphique de Giulio Paolini 1967-2000, 23 April - 21 May, no catalogue.
2002 Modena, Biblioteca civica d’arte Luigi Poletti, Giulio Paolini. Pagine, 20 September - 23 November, col. repr. pp. 40-41 (caption p. 92), referred to in the text by M. Bertoni p. 12; book.
2005 Toyota, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Arte Povera, 19 March - 12 June, repr. pp. 140-141; book.
2006 Turin, Galleria “èArte”, Paolini, Penone, Pistoletto, 7 February - 18 March.
2006 Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, 6 April - 16 July, col. repr. pp. 62-63, 64 (exhibition views), 72; portfolio.
2006 Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Libri Books Bücher, 29 April - 30 July, no catalogue; book.
2008 Milan, Biblioteca di via Senato, Un libro in maschera. Opera in 5 atti e 25 artisti, 22 April - 21 September, in the exhibition brochure reproduced on the fifth page (third plate).
2008 Carrara, Accademia di Carrara, XIII Biennale Internazionale di Scultura di Carrara. Nient’altro che scultura, 27 July - 28 September, col. repr. p. 56 (exhibition view Bergamo 2006).
2008 Turin, Giorgio Maffei, Arte Povera. Libri d’artista, multipli, fotografie, 14-23 December, no catalogue; book.
2024 Genoa, Palazzo Grimaldi della Meridiana, Libri nell’Arte. Dal Medioevo all’Età Contemporanea, 28 March - 14 July, col. repr. p. 154, referred to in the text by L. Garbarino p. 140; portfolio.
2024-26 Marines, Le Silo, from 5 June, as part of the installation of the Collection, no catalogue; portfolio, edition 12/50.
G. Paolini in the interview with F. Pasini, “La parola e la mano. Intervista a Giulio Paolini”, in L’illustrazione italiana 5, n.s., no. 24 (Milan), November, 1985, p. 21; republished in Giulio Paolini. “Tutto qui”, exhibition catalogue, Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca (Ravenna: Agenzia Editoriale Essegi, 1985), p. 149; Id., Voix off (Mâcon: Éditions W, 1986), p. 164, in French; Id., Ancora un libro (Rome: Editrice Inonia, 1987), pp. 51-52; Giulio Paolini. La voce del pittore – Scritti e interviste 1965-1995, edited by M. Disch (Lugano: ADV Publishing House, 1995), p. 209.
F. Pasini, “La parola e la mano. Intervista a Giulio Paolini”, in L’illustrazione italiana 5, n.s., no. 24 (Milan), November, 1985, p. 21, repr. pp. 22-23 (book).
Mater dulcissima, exhibition catalogue, Syracuse, Chiesa dei Cavalieri di Malta (Syracuse: Edizioni Tema Celeste, 1986), pp. 79-80, not repr.
F. Poli, Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), repr. no. 111 (book).
B. Eno, “Writing Space”, in Artforum 30, no. 3 (New York), November, 1991, repr. p. 13 (portfolio).
Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 42, repr. (portfolio).
D. von Drathen, “Giulio Paolini. Der blinde Blick des Sehers”, in Künstler. Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst 33, n. 7 (Munich: Weltkunst-Bruckmann Verlag, 1996), p. 7, repr. no. 13 p. 9 (book, third and fourth plate); republished in Id., Vortex of silence. Proposition for an art criticism beyond aesthetic categories (Milan: Edizioni Charta, 2004), p. 227, not repr.
Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), repr. p. 268 (book).
L. Dematteis, G. Maffei, Libri d’artista in Italia 1960-1998 (Turin: Regione Piemonte, 1998), cat. no. 2092 p. 178, not repr.
Carte Noire. Noire Editions 1980/2015 (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2016), repr. n. pag. (portfolio).
La collezione Rosella e Carlo Nesi. Un amore fiorentino, edited by A. Soldaini (Milan: Skira editore, 2020), cat. no. 187 p. 383, repr. (edition 39/50).
Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), col. repr. p. 247 (exhibition view Bergamo 2006).
R. Perna, “Paolo Pellion di Persano, fotoreporter dell’arte”, in Paolo Pellion di Persano. La semplice storia di un fotografo / The simple story of a photographer, exhibition catalogue, Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2024), p. 35, repr. p. 37 (portfolio).
Le Silo. Collection Billarant 07 (Dijon: Les Presses du Réel, 2024), col. repr. p. 96 (edition 12/50).
Entry by Bettina Della Casa and Maddalena Disch, 30/01/2026