MATERIALS: Extendable ladder in iron and wood, perforated wood and aluminium plate
DIMENSIONS: 1000 × 147.5 × 198 cm
PROVENANCE: The artist
COLLECTION: Fabio Mauri Estate, Rome
CATALOGUE: O_2007_641
A 1977 fireman’s ladder, manufactured by Fratelli Alimonti of Rome, which Mauri recovered in 2007 from Rebibbia Prison, forms the main body of Macchina per fissare acquerelli. The self- propelled, two-wheel ladder extends through a system of crank-operated steel rods, reaching ten metres in height when fully extended. The staircase’s top step had a pivoting wooden top, which in 2009 Mauri modified by having fretwork inserted to create a negative inscription, ‘THE END’. If the word ‘end’ at the apex of the ladder might seem to have a topological raison d’être, the work’s title suggests a more subtle interpretation, relating it to the previous Macchina per forare acquerelli (inv. 442): lacking any practical utility, disproportionately large and articulated, Macchina per fissare acquerelli suggests exposing the painting tradition’s lightest and most delicate product to improbable heights. ‘Likely once huddled in the painting debate (perhaps this too is art: a fierce discussion of a gentle practice), traditionally protected, very close to the manual idea of painting, watercolour is here brought out of its usual slumber and imbued with a demonstrative function.
Displayed improperly, away from the wall, hovering in the air, aimed at puncturing, if possible, the roof of this historic building. If the city and the gallery are the locus of art’s identity, the expressive sign, even if as tenuous as a watercolour, forces the space, albeit only slightly.’1
1. F. Mauri, ‘Un gigantesco pantografo e due monete da 100 lire’, in Trovaroma (La Repubblica supplement), Rome, 6 December 1990, p. 100.
2009, Monfalcone (Gorizia), GC.AC. – Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea, Fabio Mauri, 10 October – 1 November, curated by Andrea Bruciati.
2012, Milan, Palazzo Reale, Fabio Mauri – The End, 19 June – 23 September, curated by Francesca Alfano Miglietti.
2015, Venice, Giardini di Castello, Central Pavilion, 56. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte – All the World’s Futures, 9 May – 22 November, curated by Okwui Enwezor.
2018, Paris, La Maison Rouge – Fondation Antoine de Galbert, L’envol, 15 June – 28 October, curated by Antoine de Galbert, Bruno Decharme, Barabara Safarova, Aline Vidal.
Interni romani, exhibition catalogue, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, edited by Giuseppe Cerasa (Milan: Electa, 2007), p. 55 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri. Etc., exhibition catalogue, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Venice, edited by Vittorio Urbani (Milan: Lampi di stampa, 2009), pp. 36–37 (ill.).
Alfabeta 2: Alfabiennale, no. 10, Milan, June 2011, pp. 34–35 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri. The End, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo Reale, Milan, edited by Francesca Alfano Miglietti (Milan: Skira, 2012), pp. 130–131 (ill.).
Silvano Manganaro, “La storia tra furia e memoria”, in Il Giornale dell'Arte – Vernissage, Year XXX, no. 321, Turin, June 2012, p. 8 (ill.).
56. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte: All the World’s Futures: Mostra, exhibition catalogue, La Biennale, Venice, edited by Okwui Enzewor (Venice: Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia / Marsilio, 2015), pp. 133 (ill.), 615.
Mauri, edited by Flaminio Gualdoni (Milan: Corriere della Sera, 2022), p. 84 (ill.).
