Names of numbers. Vol. 4

Names of Numbers is a series of monographic books of drawings by artists, intellectuals, scientists and people devoted to various other activities, curated by Carola Bonfili and Valerio Mannucci.
The series' aim is to consider drawing as a common language, often complementary or parallel to other forms of artistic or intellectual production. Each book presents 30 tables by a single author. The flexible nature of drawing, and its ability to manifest the representational capacity of the imagination, lead its uses to assume a variety of different forms: the drawings collected in this series alternately appear like diaries, studies, drafts, syntheses, memories, or even, simply, expressions of leisurely interest.
This fourth volume is dedicated to the work of Paolo Merloni (1974). Born in Bologna and raised in Rome, Merloni now lives in Paris, where he continues his career as an actor and painter. He has always used drawing primarily as a means of remembering and of fixing both impressions and states of mind. The 30 drawings collected in this book, dating from the early nineties to the very recent past, have been selected from his personal sketchbooks and can be seen as the graphic manifestation of both his inspirations and fears: from religious icons to historical figures to imaginary monsters.