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Lot Essay
Paolini's production of plaster cast works coincides with an interesting creative period during the 1970s, which lives side by side with the production of his characteristic canvases, installations and other works.
The Caleidoscopio (Kaleidoscope) a work of 1976 in an edition of three (from the late 1970s, his "plasters" were realised in an edition of six examples), constitutes one of the most published, best known works in plaster by the artist. This work magnificently describes the question of the nature of the image and its perception, from Paolini's perspective.
In Caleidoscopio, the artist cuts horizontally in two a classical column, which represents an elementary architectural form and, also, a concrete spatial element. The two parts that have been cut are laid on two sheets of stainless steel of identical size. The column whose base rests on the reflective surface is doubled, as though two columns were placed one on top of the other; the one with its base facing upwards is, on the contrary, extended in its reflected image, in a single entity, as though the column had lengthened.
A comment by Paolini clearly defines the underlying concept: "whoever imagines superimposing one column on the other, would reproduce the image that each column already reproduces of itself". A comment by the viewer, beyond the conceptual value of Caleidoscopio: placed in a room, the work becomes a presence that is as significant as it is mysterious, sophisticated and the bearer of a sense of sacredness.
The Caleidoscopio (Kaleidoscope) a work of 1976 in an edition of three (from the late 1970s, his "plasters" were realised in an edition of six examples), constitutes one of the most published, best known works in plaster by the artist. This work magnificently describes the question of the nature of the image and its perception, from Paolini's perspective.
In Caleidoscopio, the artist cuts horizontally in two a classical column, which represents an elementary architectural form and, also, a concrete spatial element. The two parts that have been cut are laid on two sheets of stainless steel of identical size. The column whose base rests on the reflective surface is doubled, as though two columns were placed one on top of the other; the one with its base facing upwards is, on the contrary, extended in its reflected image, in a single entity, as though the column had lengthened.
A comment by Paolini clearly defines the underlying concept: "whoever imagines superimposing one column on the other, would reproduce the image that each column already reproduces of itself". A comment by the viewer, beyond the conceptual value of Caleidoscopio: placed in a room, the work becomes a presence that is as significant as it is mysterious, sophisticated and the bearer of a sense of sacredness.