Room 3: Giulio Paolini and Marco Tirelli

The works in this room explore the theme of art as illusion, stretching the border between reality and representation. 

1. About the Artist: Giulio Paolini 

Over the course of his career, Giulio Paolini became a prominent figure in both Arte Povera and Conceptual Art. Paolini was trained as a graphic designer, but would go on to work in sculpture, painting, and later, photography and collage. His early works reacted against his perception of the beauty of Art Informel, and focused instead on the material and formal components of painting, like the canvas and the frame. Read more.

Images: Requiem, 2003-04; Portrait: Giulio Paolini, Photo: Luciano Romano; Quadri di un’esposizione, 2013, Courtesy l’artista, Photo: Roberto Galasso

2. About the Artist: Marco Tirelli

Marco Tirelli’s paintings depict abstract subjects and indeterminate forms interacting with light and shadow, such that they appear to occupy three-dimensional space. In explaining the roots of his work, Tirelli speaks about growing up in Rome: “I never felt entirely a part of it. And this has had a big effect on my work because I’ve always sensed a tension between places […] and what lies unseen beyond.” Read more.

Images: Veduta della mostra presso il MACRO Testaccio, 2012; Portrait: Marco Tirelli, Photo: Valentina Larussa; Senza titolo, 2013, Courtesy the artist and Giacomo Guidi Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Photo: Giorgio Benni