Un artista mancato, 1992

The theme of the work was conceived in two variants – produced for two similar exhibition installations, presented at the same time in Milan and in Paris – considered by the artist two faces of the same "self-portrait".
In the version exhibited at the Galleria Christian Stein in Milan, a long unstretched canvas was held down along with an empty stretcher and a white men's shirt to one end of the metal structure located at the centre of the theatrical installation of the solo show. The part of the canvas that dropped to the ground featured several squares drawn in pen and included a luminous square of the same format projected by a beam shaper.
In the version presented at the Galerie Yvon Lambert in Paris, the work instead consisted of a black men's suit – with a sheet of drawing paper stuck into the jacket – knotted in an upside-down position, along with a reading stand – also upside down – to the metal structure that, akin to the Milan show, hosted the works on display. Numerous white sheets of paper were strewn on the ground, integrated, like in Milan, with a luminous square projected by a beam shaper.
In both cases, the squares and sheets evoke the countless "missed" attempts to finish the painting, which each time the painter is fooled into thinking he sees on the horizon.