Sotto le stelle (ad A. W.), 1985-04
GPO-0891
Under the Stars (for A. W.)
Medal display cases, fragments of xerox reproductions, gilded nails
Four parts 34 x 48 cm each, four parts 44 x 53 cm each, overall dimensions 190 x 240 cm
Private collection, Turin
The installation of the medal display cases in the upper part of a wall (in keeping with the title of the work) must be such that the lower margin of the one located farthest down is at the level of the optical axis (160 cm from the ground).
The ensemble of eight medal display cases made from gilded wood, arranged at random – the one in the middle overlapping the others – offers a cloud of photographic fragments, held on gilded hooks inside the medal holder, covered in blue velvet. Other torn fragments are held down by several gilded nails, distributed all around on the wall.
The title establishes a visual paradox between reality and imagination, recalling the starry sky through the constellation of hooks, nails, and fragments, arranged above the optical axis so that the viewer is invited to lift their gaze. The subtitle instead implicitly pays homage to Aby Warburg and to his wonderful cosmos of images from every epoch entitled Mnemosyne. Picture Atlas, whose plates gave way to the reproductions pulverized in unrecognizable details.
The work is part of a series of thirteen variants, made between 1985 and 2025, which are distinguished by the presence of one or more medal holders, their dimensions, and, above all, the intervention that is associated with them (GPO-0556, GPO-0563, GPO-0594, GPO-0595, GPO-0606, GPO-0615, GPO-0632, GPO-0717, GPO-0718, GPO-0891, GPO-1096, GPO-1099, GPO-1182).
Aby Warburg, Mnemosyne. Atlante delle immagini (Turin: Nino Aragno Editore, 2002).
| 2004 | Torre Pellice, Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Qui e ora, 8 May - 26 September. |
| 2005 | Torre Pellice, Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, Group exhibition, from 5 May. |
| • | E. Franz, “‘Vedo e non vedo’”, in E. Franz et al., Giulio Paolini. Vedo e non vedo. In tema 1 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2014), pp. 40, 42, col. repr. p. 41. |
