The artistic research of Mimmo Paladino, born in 1948 in Paduli, developed from the end of the 60s. Fascinated by the cultural climate of the time, between conceptual art and American Pop Art, whose most representative artists had exhibited at the Venice Biennale in '64, Paladino focused his early activity on photography, often associated with drawing, a technique particularly congenial to him . His first one-man show was in Caserta, in 1969. The 70s saw his interest in the figure establish itself more and more incisively: from the initial conceptual experiments, the artist transferred his attention to figurative painting. Geometric structures and objects such as branches and masks stand out on the boldly colored canvases.
"Io I always try, when I work, to be in my time, but I still think that art must go further. My first painting, for example – explains the artist in an interview with Flash Art – is extremely linked to that particular moment, because it is anti-conceptual; it is the tail end of a conceptualism that is expressed through the pictorial medium. If I look at Caravaggio's art I think of his evocative power, not of the historical moment. If I look at Picasso's Guernica, I obviously think of the historical event, but this is not the only thing that strikes me about the work, which goes beyond, due to its intrinsic pictorial power. I believe that art has always kept this value, except in some moments in which there was a precise attention towards an ideological or conceptual form for which this determines a conditioning that cannot make it go beyond its own time. But that obviously depends on the artist. Duchamp comes to mind, who despite being extremely tied to an era still manages to have a great evocative force”.
In 1978 he was in New York where he inaugurated, the following year, solo shows at Marian Goodman Gallery and at the Annina Nosei Gallery. In 1980 he took part in the Venice Biennale in the 'Aperto '80' section by Achille Bonito Oliva', and together with Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi and Nicola De Maria, he gave life to the 'Transavanguard'.
During the 80s his art became increasingly referential and on large surfaces of great visual impact, the artist represented life and the mystery of death. The techniques used are different: from drawing to engraving, to the insertion of three-dimensional elements on the canvases. Since 1985 he has dedicated himself to large bronze sculptures and installations. Famous the intervention in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples where he creates a huge mountain of salt on which he places sculptures with animal and human forms.
In the 90s he successfully intensified his activity abroad. In 1992 the creation of a permanent installation in the cloister of the Church of S. Domenico in Benevento: the work will take the name of Hortus Conclusus. In 1994, first among contemporary Italian artists, he exhibited at the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Beijing.
It is from 1995 the exhibition of the installation "Salt Mountain" in Piazza Plebiscito, Naples. In 1999, as part of the South London Gallery Project, in a brick cave under the Roundhouse at Chalk Farm in London, he installed the work 'The Sleepers', which dialogues with the sound interventions of Brian Eno.
In 2003 Paladino was chosen as representative of Italian art during the Italian presidency in Brussels: the equestrian sculpture 'Zenith' is installed in the square of the seat of the European Parliament. The Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Center in Prato, in 2002-2003, dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him and in 2004 at the Royal Palace of Caserta, as part of the Terrae Motus project, a solo exhibition was held with his most recent works. At the MAR in Ravenna, in 2005, for the first time, the sets created in the last fifteen years were exhibited. In Naples at the Capodimonte Museum in 2005 he presented a work dedicated to Don Quixote as a prelude to 'Quijote', the feature film that the artist would direct the following year. In 2006 he restructured the square in front of the Leonardesque Museum of Vinci.
In 2007 he created a large landscape art work with a sound and light design installation at Monte Pizzuto, Solopaca (BN), in correspondence with the reservoir of the Alto Calore aqueduct. In 2008 he was entrusted with the construction of the roofing of the scaffolding of the Ghirlandina restoration site, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena. Also from 2008 is an important one exhibition at the Ara Pacis Museum of Rome with the contribution of the musician Brian Eno and a personal exhibition at the Villa Pisani in Stra. An important installation is the one present on the island of Lampedusa to commemorate the victims of the clandestine landings. In 2009 exhibition of sculptures that fill the streets, squares and palaces of the town, in the enchanting scenery of Orta S. Giulio, on Lake Orta, curated by Flavio Arensi. The exhibition catalog consists of 48 original and unpublished photos by Gianni Berengo Gardin: the famous photographer has created a series of portraits of Paladino and his works.
In 2010 Mimmo Paladino signed the scenography of “work in progress”, tour that saw the couple Lucio Dalla and Francesco De Gregori reunite after 30 years, and realizes Prova d'Orchestra, a work commissioned by the San Carlo opera house in Naples, located above the rehearsal room of the theatre. On April 10 of the same year, a large blue horse measuring over four meters was installed in the Amphitheater of the Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone Riviera (BS), the house-museum of Gabriele d'Annunzio.
At the end of January 2011 he created the new permanent room of the National Archaeological Museum of Villa Frigerj in Chieti dedicated to the Capestrano Warrior and inaugurated the sculpture exhibition focused on the "new Warrior", set up at the exhibition center of the Carichieti Foundation in Palazzo De Mayo. In 2011 the city of Milan dedicated a major retrospective to the master at Palazzo Reale, in front of which, in Piazzetta Reale, the monumental "Salt Mountain" was installed, and still in the same exhibition venue, his works were the subject of the anthological exhibition on Transavantgarde curated by Achille Bonito Oliva together with 4 other great protagonists of the artistic movement.
The important exhibition on the ceramic works at the MIC Museum of Faenza and the installation of a large marble cross in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. At the end of the same year, he was appointed Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Insigne Academy of Fine Arts in the Vatican by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2013 he held a personal exhibition in Ravello, in the enchanting setting of Villa Rufolo and the Auditorium during the usual Ravello Festival. In 2015 he took part in the Venice Biennale and in 2016 he had a major monographic exhibition at the Stein Gallery in Milan. Since April 2017, some of his impressive works have been exhibited in Brescia, mainly in Piazza Vittoria.
Mimmo Paladino's works have entered prestigious international public and private collections and are permanently exhibited in important museums and institutions in Italy and abroad.
Market and prices
For Mimmo Paladino, as for other exponents of the Transavantgarde movement, highly valued in the 90s and early 2000s, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also in Italy, there is considerable room for improvement in a market that currently offers about 50/60% less than ten years ago. Suffice it to say that in international auctions alone, in 2007 Paladino had a turnover of over 2,6 million euros and more than 2,3 million in 2007, while in 2018 it totaled less than 500 thousand euros (Artprice data). To date, there have been over 2500 passages of his works in auction (over half on international markets - USA, GB, Europe - with a percentage of unsold, in the various types (excluding prints) which in 2018 stood at around 50%. For any good account however, according to the Artprice index, $ 100 invested in 2000 in a work by Mimmo Paladino, they are currently worth an average of 123 dollars (+ 23%). On the primary market, also thanks to the excellent work done by its reference galleries, present with selected works by the Master (or even with personal exhibitions) in the most important international fairs, prices are recovering. However, still far from the maximum.
Currently, an investment is required for the sculptures that can vary from 100 to 300 thousand euros depending on the techniques and dimensions. For paintings, the price ranges from 40 to over 200 thousand euros (a medium format 100×70 cm costs 50/70 thousand euros). Mixed techniques on cardboard and watercolors can be purchased for prices ranging from 10 to 30 thousand euros. Particularly interesting is the comment by Emilio Mazzoli, historic gallerist from Modena and one of the architects of the affirmation of the Transavantgarde movement. The market “It's fine, but abroad. Here, the system is penalized by taxes and levies such that those who have little money to spend spend it outside. The result is that there are two or three international galleries left. Then there are too many businessmen around, those who think they are fast but are slow, many want to take the train when it has already passed. After all, beautiful things have always cost since the world began".
Gallery: Christian Stein of Milan (02-76393301), Mazzoli of Modena (059-243455), Casamadre of Naples (081-19360591). But the Master's works can also be found in other leading galleries in Italy and abroad. For graphic works the reference is Alan Cristea of London.
Top Price at Auction: Well of Heroes, 1983 – Oil/canvas, with wood collage, 205,7 x 307,2 x 11,4 cm. – was sold for 238.805 euros (including royalties) at Sothby's New York in May 1990. «Canto I», 1995 – Mixed technique, oil, canvas collage, 325,1 x 224,2 cm. – changed hands for €243.936, with royalties, at Sotheby's London in October 2005. untitled, 1995 – Bronze. Artist's proof, Ed. AP1/2, 248,5 x 98 x 47,5 cm. – stopped the auctioneer's hammer at €155.860 (including fees) at Phillips London in June 2016. Interior with tin, 1988 – Oil on canvas 250 x 300 cm. – fetched up to 180 euros in November 2016 at the Farsetti auction house in Prato.
