Era vero (Averroè), 1983
GPO-0505
It Was True (Averroes)
Top hat, torn book pages, glass sheet
40 x 40 x 40 cm
Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini, Turin
Gift of the artist, 25 October 2012, archive no. GPO-0505
A Borsalino top hat is turned upside down on a glass sheet that holds down two printed pages, in which the artist's work Averroè (1967, GPO-0138) is reproduced.1 Inside it, the hat holds the torn pages from the catalogue Giulio Paolini. Atto unico in tre quadri (Milan 1979).
The “truth”, evoked in the title by the anagram for “Averroè”, refers to the "true" testimonies (declarations and printed images) collected in the top hat, but also to the "true" correspondence between the multiple flags in Averroè and the multitude of torn pages. The truth, on the contrary, remains plural: the truth of the work remains a whole of hypotheses and clues for which lots are drawn.
The top hat, used here for the first time, constitutes a complementary element to the ceremonial attire – introduced by the artist in his repertoire in 1980 – and thus recalls the magic trick and the figure of the artificer-actor, magician, and illusionist.
This work is part of a series of seven variants, made on the occasion of solo exhibitions held between 1983 and 1985, which are distinguished by the different source used for the pages placed inside the hat (GPO-0489, GPO-0499, GPO-0505, GPO-0509, GPO-0524, GPO-0543, GPO-0550).
1 The double-page spread is from the first monograph devoted to the artist: G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 58-59, reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019).
| 1984 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, not repr. |
| 1984 | Turin, Mole Antonelliana, Coerenza in coerenza. Dall’Arte Povera al 1984, 12 June - 14 October, not repr. |
| 1985 | Madrid, Palacio de Cristal, Del Arte Povera a 1985, 24 January - 7 April, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 208, not repr. (reproduction of another version of Era vero (Averroè) on p. 109, cf. GPO-0489). |
| 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 | Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, 20 September - 2 November, cited in the checklist of exhibited works vol. 4 no. 35 p. 52, not repr. |
| 1997 | Sabbioneta, Galleria degli Antichi, Giulio Paolini. Esposizione Universale, 25 May - 29 June, not repr. |
| 1999 | Frechen-Bachem, Galerie Jule Kewenig, Giulio Paolini, 8 March - 30 April. |
| 2017 | Bologna, MAMbo Museo d’Arte Moderna, My way, A modo mio. Ginevra Grigolo e lo Studio G7, 44 anni tra attualità e ricerca, 30 April - 28 May, repr. pp. 73, 114 (exhibition view Bologna 1984). |
| • | M. Disch, “Giulio Paolini. Hors-d’oeuvre”, in Giulio Paolini. La voce del pittore – Scritti e interviste 1965-1995, edited by Id. (Lugano: ADV Publishing House, 1995), pp. 114-116, repr. no. 31. |
| • | 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. 267 (exhibition view Sabbioneta 1997). |
| • | Lettre International 4, no. 43 (Berlin), Winter, 1998, col. repr. p. 86 (exhibition view Sabbioneta 1997; among the images of unrelated works curated by the artist upon invitation by the Publisher). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 505 p. 516, repr. |
