Zenith

Mimmo Paladino (Italy)

Mimmo Paladino is an Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker who was born on December 18, 1948. He was born Domenico Paladino in Paduli in southern Italy.He attended the Liceo Artistico di Benvenuto (Benevento Art School) from 1964 to 1968, when minimalism and conceptualism dominated the international art scene. He was part of the expressionist resurgence that swept through Italy in the 1980s, known as Transavantgarde. In 1977 Paladino moved to Milan, and then in 1978 to New York. He exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1980, the Biennale of Sydney in 1982, and documenta 7 in Kassel in 1982.

Paladino began making conceptual experimentations in the 1970s and transferred the attention onto figurative painting. He adored geometric structures and objects made with coppers and masks with burlaps from determined colors. In 1978, he had exhibited in the Marian Goodman Gallery and the Annina Nosei Gallery. In 1980, he participated in the Venice Biennial with Sandro Chia, Francisco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi and Nicholas De Maria.

From 1985 he dedicated his art in great sculptures in bronze and installations. He had participated in Public square of the Plebiscite at Naples where the sculptures in shapes of animals and human stands on an enormous mountain.

In the 1990s his activities started going abroad. In 1994, he participated in the first exhibition between contemporary Italian artists in China happened in the Gallery National of Fine Arts of Beijing. In 1999, he collaborated with the famous Brian Eno in the South London Gallery Project.

In 2003 Paladino was chosen as a representative of the Italian artat Brussels: the sculpture `Zenith' was installed in the public square in the center of the European Parliament. In 2008, Paladino took part in an important construction which is the extension to the Museum of Ara Paris of Rome.

Design Synopsis of Zenith

Paolo Uccello¹ in perspective - Deed in the salt \ In the blue - Landscape with passage of flags – Revolution \ With the camera out – Forest \ Bottom noise – Watch \ Waiting – Weapon \ No – Ancient theatre \ Kasimiro² in spring – The storm – Slow thunderbolt \ Effect field – Sorcerer of profile \ Stealed head – Essays \ More dimensions – Dramatistic landscape – Futurist ball \ Precious – Stealed Hills \ Wide shot – Carbon only \ Carbon black – The prince at the beginning became falconer \ Hunting at dawn – Thunders and thunderbolts \ Zelt – Idraulic city \ Winding – Fountain in stage \ Gunshot – Dawn – At four paws \ Close up of profile - The mount of the angel – Light only \ Deep gold - Blow up \ Deed – Wide shot with light - Sorcerer - …Step by step \ Way, way, way – Effect night \ Panoramic – Underexposition \ Fading – Put to fire \ Action – The house of the architect – Close up - The ascent – Zenith \ Zenitation – To a trot \ to a gallop

Roma, 12/05/08

¹ Italian painter who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art
² Spanish name, famous destroyer

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