Mimmo Paladino Paduli, Benevento 1948 -

The 29th Biennale in Venice in 1980 has marked the birth of the Italian trans-avant-garde with an aim to reach back to a conceptual, minimalist and performative representati- on of the object. One the outstanding personalities of this postmodern, emotionally accentuated movement is Mimmo Paladino, whose varied iconographical repertoire evolves into fascinating imageries rooted in the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean.¹

The present work also offers this kind of creative vocabulary, allowing the observer to penetrate deeper and deeper into the motif to discover newness. The eye is caught by an amorphous form which appears to be placed into a seemingly undefined space. Single ornaments are visible, and the supposed form itself becomes a canvas, as the abundance shown is so contrasting to its environment. Silent masks are glancing into the depths of space, void of thought, almost fearfully. The young woman sitting in a bowl, depicted in clear contoured sculptural simplicity, forms the focus of the work. She appears melancholy, distant and lonely. The eye of the observer, in search of connection between the vari- ous elements, suddenly comes to notice a profound landscape similar to a coastal landscape, vaguely depicted by only a few lines. The association of an ark loaded with exotic, alien symbolism and floating lonely near a wide coast arises and illustrates the deep imaginaries of Mimmo Paladino that need to be conquered.

¹ Bruno Cora and Nanni Balestrini: Paladino. Prato 2002, p. 15ff.