Selinunte (II), 1978
GPO-0386
Plaster cast and fragments, plexiglas sheet
Cast h 66 cm, plexiglas sheet 140 x 140 cm, overall dimensions 82 x 170 x 170 cm
Private collection, Milan
The plexiglas sheet should not be placed directly on the floor; rather, it must be slightly elevated by a wooden support, to be placed in the area corresponding to the column. All of the fragments should be placed on the floor in such a way that they suggest an explosion, featuring a vaguely circular pattern; the larger fragments should be centred close to the cast of the column (and so that they hide the wooden support from sight as much as possible), while the smaller ones should gradually spread outwards, in some cases going beyond the area determined by the sheet.
The location of the work is not limited to a pre-established position, as long as there is enough free space all around it when it is situated in a central area.
The plaster cast of a portion of the shaft of a fluted column is set at the centre of a plexiglas sheet, precariously balanced on fragments of a second identical cast that was broken up into pieces. The title refers to the ancient Greek city of Selinunte, on the south-western coast of Sicily, emphasizing the evocation of ruins and architectural artefacts.
Akin to pieces of torn paper, the pieces of a broken cast are like clues whose purpose is to direct the gaze towards the construction of an image, which nonetheless eludes the definition of a completed form.
This work is the second of three variants – as indicated by the number in the title – made between 1977 and 1980 (GPO-0373, GPO-0386, GPO-0424).
| 1978 | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, Giulio Paolini. Il giudizio di Paride, from 8 May. |
| 1978-79 | Cologne, Galerie Paul Maenz, Giulio Paolini, 16 December 1978 - 16 January 1979. |
| 1986 (?) | Cologne, Galerie Paul Maenz, Giulio Paolini. Dal “Trionfo della rappresentazione” (cerimoniale: in prospettiva), 4 February - 1 March. |
| 2009 | Palermo, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea della Sicilia, Palazzo Belmonte Riso, Passaggi in Sicilia. La collezione di Riso. E oltre, 9 July - 4 October, mentioned as exhibited p. 181, catalogue entry by T.L. Cicciarella, repr. pp. 136-137, 181 (exhibition views Cologne 1978-79). |
| • | Paul Maenz. Jahresbericht 1978 (Cologne: Galerie Paul Maenz, 1979), p. 31, repr. |
| • | I. Tomassoni, “Giulio Paolini”, in Flash Art 94-95 (Milan, Italian edition), January-February, 1980, repr. p. 6. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Premio Bolaffi 1980 (Turin: Giulio Bolaffi Editore, 1980), repr. pp. 24-25 (exhibition view Turin 1978). |
| • | Der Traum des Orpheus. Mythologie in der italienischen Gegenwartskunst 1967 bis 1984, exhibition catalogue, Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 1984, repr. p. 89 (exhibition view Turin 1978). |
| • | 2000 Jahre. Die Gegenwart der Vergangenheit, exhibition catalogue, Bonn, Bonner Kunstverein, 1989, repr. p. 22 (exhibition view Cologne 1986 [?]). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Early Dynastic, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Studio d’Arte Contemporanea Pino Casagrande (Milan: Skira editore, 2001), repr. p. 33. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 386 p. 392, repr. (exhibition view Cologne 1986). |
| • | Collezione Christian Stein. Una storia dell'arte italiana / A History of Italian Art (Valencia-Lugano-Milan: IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Museo Cantonale d'Arte and Mondadori Electa, 2010), repr. p. 272 (exhibition view Turin 1978). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. O.D.E., exhibition catalogue, Monforte d’Alba (Cuneo), Castello di Perno (Alba: Fondazione Mancini Carini, 2022), repr. p. 125 (exhibition view Turin 1978). |
| • | S.M.S. Cammarata, “Strappare una foto. Le Cariatidi di Giulio Paolini”, in Studi di scultura. Età moderna e contemporanea 6, no. 6 (Naples), 2024, p. 285, repr. (exhibition view Cologne 1986). |
