Omega (1948-2018), 2019
GPO-1102
Jewelry box, wristwatch, photographic reproductions on tracing paper, plexiglas sheet and case
Jewelry box 26 x 26 x 4 cm (closed), case 50 x 50 x 50 cm, overall dimensions 50 x 50 x 50 cm
Collection of the artist
This jewelry box lined with blue velvet hosts a men's watch arranged over several images reproduced on tracing paper and rolled up. Other images are arranged all around it, on the bottom of the box, and on the support surface of the base.
The title reveals the intimately biographical context underlying the work: in 1948, at eight years of age, Giulio Paolini was given an Omega watch for his First Communion. He wore it until 2018, when it stopped working: truly a "life companion", the watch was witness to the artist's existence for seven decades, as recorded in the photographs representing him at different ages.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in his studio taken by Bettina Della Casa, 2015.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in his studio taken by Anna Piva, 1967.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini on the phone taken by Anna Piva, 1967.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in his studio taken by Anna Piva, 1966.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in Milan taken by Anna Piva, 1966.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in Turin taken by Anna Piva, 1965.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in his studio taken by Anna Piva, 1965.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in Turin taken by Anna Piva, 1965.
• Portrait of Giulio Paolini in Turin taken by Anna Piva, 1964.
| 2020-21 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu, 15 October 2020 - 16 May 2021, vol. 1: cited in the cheklist of exhibited works p. 78, col. repr. pp. 34-35 (exhibition view), 62-63 (detail), referred to in the text by M. Beccaria p. 65. |
| • | G. Paolini, Eccomi. Qui dove sono (Turin: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini, 2025), col. repr. p. 94 (exhibition view Rivoli 2020). |
