Mimmo Paladino

MIMMO PALADINO (Paduli, Benevento, 1948).
Untitled, 2002.
Color woodcut on paper, print no. 39/100.
Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil.
Measurements: 35 x 40 cm.

This woodcut particularly clearly encapsulates Mimmo Paladino’s figurative repertoire, built from symbols, schematic faces, and references with an archaic appearance. At the center of the composition, a head in profile overlaps the face of a clock with Roman numerals, while the orange-red hue forms the sole large chromatic field. The circular geometry, the lines crossing the face, and the almost emblematic simplification of the figure create an image in which figuration and symbol coexist—one of the constant features of his artistic language. Graphic art also occupies a prominent place in his body of work: institutions such as MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum hold important examples of his woodcuts and other works on paper.

Mimmo Paladino is one of the central figures of the Italian Transavantgarde. In 1980, Achille Bonito Oliva included him, alongside Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, and Nicola De Maria, in the “Aperto ’80” section of the Venice Biennale, an exhibition closely linked to the consolidation of the movement. He subsequently participated in “A New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy in London and in Documenta 7 in Kassel, and in 1988 he was given a solo room at the Venice Biennale. His work is represented, among other institutions, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.