Giulio Paolini: To Be or Not to Be, Whitechapel gallery

In the latest Whitechapel Gallery exhibition, Guilio Paolini takes on the bard’s:  To be or not to be reveals to London his expansive practice from the 60s to the present

His first major show in the UK in over thirty years, Giulio Paolini’s forthcoming exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery is a must see for contemporary art aficionados. The title,To be or not to be, is appropriated from William Shakespeare’s famous epigram from the play Hamlet. Comprising installations, sculptures and photographs – including key works from the 1960s to the present, as well as a new installation created especially for the show – the exhibition explores the relationship between the artist and the artwork, the making of art, and the role of the artist. 

The history

Although closely linked with the Artre Povera moment of the 1960s, Paolini’s practice is probably closer to that of conceptual art. His work is deeply rooted in art history from the renaissance to today, with plaster casts of classical sculptures to reproductions of iconic paintings by Chardin, Lotto and Velaquez. Paolini’s belief that a work of art, ‘is not just for the here and now,’ but should also serve as a record of past traditions, has led him to investigate art’s relationship with the past. 

Exhibition Highlights

Highlights of the exhibition include: the large-scale floor piece Essere o non esssere (To be or not to be), (1994-1995), alluding to the continual process of construction and destruction; one of Paolini’s most iconic works Giovane che guarda Lorenzo Letto (Young man looking at Lorenzo Letto) (1967), a reproduction of a 1505 portrait by the renaissance painter Lorenzo Letto, in which the roles of artist and viewer are reversed; and the enigmatic L’autore che credeva di esistere (sipario: buio in sala) (The author who thought he existed [Curtain: Darkness falls over the auditorium]) (2013), evoking an abandoned artist’s studio. 

Paolini’s To be or not to be is a plethora of intriguing and mesmerising works that promises to enchant the senses and captivate the intellect. One not to be missed!