A J.L.B., 1965
GPO-0086
To J.L.B.
Shaped, painted and carved wood
210 x 200 x 37 cm
Lia Rumma Collection
The work should be mounted so that it is slightly inclined with respect to the sides of the room it is contained in, and never parallel (especially when it is close to a wall).
The pyramid shape, painted in silver enamel on both sides and carved to look as though it has steps, simulates a perspective towards infinity, where the progressive loss of the depth of the steps upwards reproduces the gradual diminishment of the visibility of a fixed point at an infinite distance. At the same time, the profile of the work devoted to Jorge Luis Borges replicates that of an optical pyramid.
The work was made in another version during the same year, painted white, which was mounted differently, up against a wall this time. (GPO-0087).
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, not repr. |
| 1977 | Turin, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Arte in Italia 1960-1977. Dall’opera al coinvolgimento. L’opera: simboli e immagini. La linea analitica, 28 May - September, not repr. |
| 1984 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, not repr. |
| 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 in Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1986 | Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Giulio Paolini, 15 February - 30 March, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition in Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1986 | Venice, Studio Barnabò, Artisti italiani contemporanei 1956-1986, October, col. repr. p. 23 and on cover. |
| 1994 | Naples, Lia Rumma, Le Costanti nell'Arte, 26 February - 30 Marchj, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 22, repr. p. 10 (exhibition view). |
| 2018-19 | Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arte Povera: Homage to Amalfi ’68, 27 October 2018 - 7 July 2019, no catalogue. |
| 2024-25 | Paris, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Arte Povera, 9 October 2024 - 20 January 2025, repr. no. 6 p. 246, catalogue entry by S.M.S. Cammarata pp. 244-245. |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 83 (exhibition view Parma 1976). |
| • | J.L. Maubant, Ambition d’art, vol.: Archive (Villeurbanne-Dijon: Institut d’art contemporain and Les presses du réel, 2008), col. repr. p. 23 (exhibition view Villeurbanne 1984). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 86 p. 116, repr. |
| • | F. Belloni, “Il tutto nell’uno. Giulio Paolini e Jorge Luis Borges”, in Prospettiva 186 (Siena), April, 2022 [sic!, June, 2023], p. 78, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), repr. p. 147 (exhibition view Parma 1976). |
| • | G. Paolini, Eccomi. Qui dove sono (Turin: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini, 2025), col. repr. p. 99 (exhibition view Paris 2024). |
