Selinunte (III), 1979-80
GPO-0424
Plaster cast, fractured plaster cast, glass sheet, fractured glass sheet
Whole cast h 66 cm, whole glass sheet 140 x 140 cm, overall dimensions 66 x 290 x 290 cm
Salvatore Ala Collection, Milan
The plaster cast of a portion of a fluted column, placed on a glass sheet, serves as the epicentre of the explosion of a second identical cast and another glass sheet. The fragmented elements occupy two square areas equal to that of the sheet in its entirety and adjacent to it, forming an L shape overall, as if to suggest the corner of an ancient ruin. The evoking of an archaeological site is corroborated by the title, which refers to the ancient Greek city of Selinunte on the south-western coast of Sicily.
The portion of column, the pieces of plaster, and the shards of glass are clues aimed at directing the gaze towards the construction of an image, which eludes the definition of a finished form, however.
The work constitutes the last of three variants – as indicated by the numbering in the title – made between 1977 and 1980 (GPO-0373, GPO-0386, GPO-0424).
| 1980 | Milan, Galleria Salvatore Ala, Fabro, Kounellis, Merz, Paolini, from 27 March. |
| 1989-90 | New York, Salvatore Ala Gallery, Fabro, Kounellis, Merz, Paolini, 16 December 1989 - 27 January 1990. |
| 2007 | Milan, Galleria Salvatore + Caroline Ala, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Anthony Gormley, Rebecca Horn, Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Penone, Remo Salvadori, Emilio Vedova, 16 February - 31 March. |
| 2016-17 | Milan, Galleria Christian Stein, Giulio Paolini. Fine, 10 November 2016 - 29 April 2017, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 151, col. repr. pp. 32-33 (exhibition view), catalogue entry by M. Disch p. 151; exhibited at the venue in Pero. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Werke und Schriften 1960-1980 (Lucerne: Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1981), repr. n. pag. |
| • | Der Traum des Orpheus. Mythologie in der italienischen Gegenwartskunst 1967 bis 1984, exhibition catalogue, Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 1984, repr. p. 86. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. La Casa di Lucrezio, exhibition catalogue, Spoleto, Palazzo Rosari Spada (Casalecchio di Reno: Grafis Edizioni, 1984), repr. p. 20. |
| • | La montagna gialla, edited by Carlo Quartucci (Rome: Camion, 1985), repr. p. 47 (incompletely dated "1979”). |
| • | Italia Aperta, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, Fundación Caja de Pensiones, 1985, repr. no. 43 p. 123 (erroneously dated “1970”). |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Nagoya, Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1987, repr. p. 26. |
| • | F. Poli, “Note di lettura”, in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), p. 45, repr. no. 95; republished in Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), p. 73, not repr. |
| • | T.F. Conti, “Giulio Paolini. Stacco permanente”, in Titolo 2, no. 4 (Perugia), Spring, 1991, repr. p. 8. |
| • | Il pensiero tangibile. Otto percorsi esemplari in Francia e in Italia, exhibition catalogue, Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Ravenna: Agenzia Editoriale Essegi, 1992), repr. p. 56. |
| • | Sembianti della scultura, exhibition catalogue, Crespellano, Palazzo Stella, 2000, repr. p. 46. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Early Dynastic, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Studio d’Arte Contemporanea Pino Casagrande (Milan: Skira editore, 2001), repr. p. 33. |
| • | R. Krüger, Nach der Antike. Studien zur Antikenrezeption in der bildenden Kunst seit 1967 (Essen: Klartext, 2004), repr. no. 9 p. 164 (exhibition view Milan 1980). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 424 p. 434, repr. (exhibition view Milan 1980). |
| • | B. Satre, “Giulio Paolini, entre fragment et fragmentation”, in Influxus, online journal, 28 May 2014. |
