Rialto, 1990

Two large primed canvases arranged so that one is seen from the recto and the other from the verso are lined up in precarious balance and tilted along the diagonal of the room, so as to form a “bridge” (which explains the use of the name of the famous Venetian Rialto bridge, an “echo” of the place where the work was presented for the first time). Placed precariously at the viewer's eye level at the point where the two canvases come into contact are a countryside easel and several painter’s tools or clues to his profession: a palette stuck into one of the easel legs, a sheet of drawing paper with the author’s signature on it, the title of the work and the opening date of the exhibition where the work is on display, and, wrapped around another easel leg, a men’s shirt, jacket, and trousers.
The assemblage would appear to be “held” in balance by the gaze – both the author’s and our own – which attempts to see the “painting” announced by the exhibition and authenticated by the autograph inscriptions on the drawing paper.