A retrospective of the work and career of artist and institutional director Paolo Colombo (through its recurring concerns: literature and poetry, which he practices himself; Greek culture, from classical to modern; rebetika music; and a sustained dialogue with artists such as
Fausto Melotti and
Alighiero Boetti), on the occasion of his exhibition at the
Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève, which he himself directed for over 10 years.
Paolo Colombo: The Second Time, published on the occasion of his eponymous exhibition at the
Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève, is a monograph dedicated to Paolo Colombo's artistic practice. Through a long conversation with the director of the Centre and curator of the exhibition,
Andrea Bellini, the book traces Colombo's experience, from his childhood education in Switzerland to his approach to art at a young age; from his first exhibition at Mario Tazzoli's gallery in Turin in 1974 to his move to the United States, where, in the second half of the 1980s, he interrupted his career as an artist to embark on that of an art curator, eventually becoming director of the Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève from 1990 to 2001.
The conversation unfolds between these two facets of Colombo's professional life, but also offers insights into his passion for literature and poetry—he is himself the author of verses that appear in many works—for Greek culture, from classical to modern, for rebetika musicians, as well as for the artists who have inspired his work, such as
Fausto Melotti and
Alighiero Boetti.
The dialogue also bridges Colombo's practice in the 1970s and 1980s with his more recent work, having returned to painting, drawing, and creating around 2011, while also showing various trajectories towards new developments.
Published in English, French, and Italian, the extensive conversation is punctuated by a generous gallery of images accompanying the journey through his work and his multifaceted biography, followed by installation views of the exhibition in Geneva—which also bridges Colombo's past and present practice. The book is completed by a detailed chronology compiled by Sara De Chiara, also rich in images and documents, which traces his experience as an artist.
Paolo Colombo (born 1949 in Turin, Italy) graduated in languages and literature from the University of Rome in 1975 and began painting and drawing as a self-taught artist from 1974 at the Mario Pozzoli gallery in Milan. In 1977, Colombo was the first European artist to exhibit at PS1 in New York. He interrupted his career in 1986 for 21 years. During this time, he worked as a curator in museums in the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Turkey. After this hiatus, Colombo resumed his artistic practice in 2007, coinciding with a move to Athens, Greece. Since then, his work was presented in London, Los Angeles, Geneva, Rossinière, and Athens. His works are part of the collections of MONA in Hobart (Tasmania), Istanbul Modern (Turkey), Bénaki Museum in Athens (Greece) and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles (USA).
