ABOUT EXHIBITION
Michelangelo Pistoletto started as a figurative painter in the 1950s. However, by 1960s the canvas was replaced by a monochromatic metallic background, which became the first manifestation of the mirror surface in his practice. The mirror started to feature more and more prominently in his work, finally becoming one of the leading media for the artist. Initially it was a way to include an ever-changing reality into a painting, but its meaning developed further over the years. The mirror symbolizes the idea of “here and now”, while suggesting a dichotomy of the virtual and the real. Pistoletto himself highlights the following characteristics:
Pistoletto is also largely known as a leading member of Arte Povera. The definition of that movement was proposed by Germano Celant in 1967 and identified a growing number of young artists, who were experimenting with media using “everyday materials” to make art. Despite the obvious lack of funds and economic instability in Italy at the time, Arte Povera was rather driven by a desire to break away from the restraints of traditional art-making. The movement also greatly contributed to what we now know as conceptual art.
Pistoletto continues this experiment attempting to unify art and daily life through a practice which is engaged across media and disciplines. His thinking is moved by the belief that art can impact the world around us. In his own words: “Politics and the economy need to be inspired by a new way of thinking. The formative space for this thinking is the creative laboratory for socially-engaged art".
WORKS:
The Cubic Meter of Infinity
1966-2018, mirror, 6 elements 100 x 120 cm each, overall: 120 x 120 x 120 cm, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
In late 1965 and January 1966, Pistoletto produced a radically different body of work, which he referred to as “Minus Objects“. In this group, of which “Infinity Cube“ is a key example, Pistoletto broke with the dogma of uniform artistic style: each object differed from the others. Instead of being easily recognizable as one artist’s work, the “Minus Objects“ refused simple categorization and even gave the impression of a group show when displayed together. Although “Infinity Cube“ is made of materials similar to those used by American minimalist artists, it represents the opposite of what they wanted to represent. Minimalist works often have a mirrored exterior and reflect their surroundings in order to disappear into the world, while Pistoletto’s cube is physically present – the mirror faces inward, where it extends into infinity, and the reverse of the mirror is blue.
Mirror paintings room
Silkscreen on polished stainless steel. Different sizes
With his Mirror Paintings of the early 1960s he achieved critical recognition deconstructing the traditional notion of painting by reflecting the surroundings and the viewer as part of the image. This series of works is made out of a sheet of stainless steel, polished to a mirror finish, onto which an image is applied. They are usually hung flat on, or slightly above, the floor. Thus these “paintings” create a doorway that allows communication between art and life through the reflections that place the viewers into the artworks. After experimenting with different materials in the early 1960s Pistoletto finally identified mirror-finished steel as the best material, because it gives maximum objectivity to the figure. Additionally, he decided to use photography. Several trials followed. After 1971 the painted tissue was replaced by a silkscreen of the photographic image. The mirror paintings show humans in action or self-portraits. “I chose the representation of humans because I feel it best suited to realizing my need to express particular feelings and situations of the human condition, what for me is the most vital and burning issue of all time”. At the same time when he started to experiment with mirrors he also painted some self-portraits in which he represented himself life size, still and inexpressive, as a prototype of a common human being, on monochromatic gold, silver and copper backgrounds. Finally, in 1961, came the turning point that led to the mirror paintings. Over a black-painted canvas he laid a thick layer of transparent varnish. As he approached it to paint his face, he suddenly realized he could see his reflection on the canvas itself, without having to use a mirror. “The figure of a man seemed to come forward, as if alive, in the space of the gallery; but the true protagonist was the relationship of instantaneousness that was created between the spectator, his own reflection, and the painted figure, in an ever-present movement that concentrated the past and the figure in itself to such an extent as to cause one to call their very existence into doubt: it was the dimension of time itself”.
Labirinto e Grande Pozzo
1969-2018, corrugated cardboard, mirror, site specific dimensions, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
The form of a labyrinth has long been used as a metaphor for discovery and personal journeying. Here, pistoletto’s long-standing interest in participatory art provides another layer of experience of the spiraling path, which alters the viewers understanding of the architecture, making each one a fundamental part of the work itself. Made out of corrugated cardboard, Pistoletto’s work leads visitors through a maze in search of their own self as well. Remaining true to his roots, Pistoletto, uses materials which are frugal in order not to distract the visitor who in turn, is an integral part of the work itself.
Il Terzo Paradiso
Posters. Vinyl print
In 2003 Pistoletto wrote “The Third Paradise” manifesto and drew its symbol. The basic idea of the “Third Paradise” is the overcoming of the current worldwide existing conflict between the two polarities of nature and artifice. The “Third Paradise” is symbolically represented by a reconfiguration of the mathematical infinity sign. In the symbol of the “Third Paradise” three circles are drawn: the two opposite circles signify nature and artifice; the middle one is the conjunction of the two and represents the generative womb of a new humanity. From this date onwards the Third Paradise has been the main driving force behind Michelangelo Pistoletto's as well as Cittadellarte's work. A work developed through building a growing network of relationships and collaborations with many different partners: individuals, associations and institutions active not only in the artistic field, but at every level and sphere of the social life, turning it into a big collective and participatory work of art. Recycling and environmental sustainability are two recurrent and crucial issues in the development of the Third Paradise. They have been the first and foremost topics in the many workshops organized from 2005 onwards in collaboration with several partners.
Color and Light
2016, 2017, juta, mirror, gilded wood, 16 elements: 180 x 120 cm each,unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
“Colour and Light” is a series of framed canvases painted monochromatically in bright colors upon which broken pieces of mirror have been affixed. Mirrors represent for Pistoletto an image of the world. By breaking them he is dividing the image of the cosmos into many fragments, one for every single person. The mirrors are hung side by side on opposite walls, which leads to automatic reaction that viewers start piecing them together in their minds. This act of re-composition illustrates the artist’s belief that ultimately "the material for making art is not just canvas, wood or marble – but society itself." The work is a continuation of his mirror paintings that he started to experiment with in 1961, which form the foundation of his oevere. He constantly returns to them to study their meaning and to develop their implications. The essential characteristics the artist identifies in them are: the dimension of time, the inclusion in the work of the viewer and his/her surroundings and the joining of couples of opposite polarity (static/dynamic, surface/depth, absolute/relative).
Metamorfosi
1976-2018, mirror, rags, site specific dimensions, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
The site-specific installation "Metamorfosi" consists of a pile of rags and used clothes that are divided in half by a double mirror. The clothes on one side are multi-colored while, on the other, they are completely white. The mirror redoubles each half to complete it and makes it seem that, from one side or the other, the pile consists of uniform clothes, either all white or all colored. The viewers are involved in a relationship with the work, and their ability to “see” beyond the appearance. The mirrored reflection, and its pleasant illusion, allows them to understand that the pile of rags is not uniform, that the division blocks any real perception of the whole, that the mountain of clothes is such only if formed from both halves.
L'etrusco e la strada romana
1976, mirror and bronze sculpture, statue: 194 x 90 x 80 cm, mirror: 220 x 280 cm, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
The work is a version of the renowned Etruscan statue of “The Orator“ (eng.) (”L’Arringatore“ (it)). The man portrayed in the original is Aulus Metellus of 69-70 AD, a politician and powerful man at the time of the Romans. He raised his arm to greet the crowd that we imagine in front of him, a gesture to calm the people to make them ready to listen to his speech. Pistoletto flips the scene, he placed him in front of a mirror which gives the impression that he is reaching out for himself, he pushes the man to get involved with himself, to „re-read“ and „re-assamble“ himself in the mirror. A human being in front of a mirror is as if he were naked. The question that the work wants to evoke is "Who are you?" And this question is unexpectedly addressed to all the spectators, who cannot avoid looking at themselves. The question refers to the origins at the beginning of civilization. The political man acquires awareness of himself and becomes responsible for his actions and words for the first time. The visitors in front of the work are the crowd and find themselves to be an active, concrete part; the work as an individual becomes collective.
All in one
2007-2016, mirror, wood, 160 x 224 cm + 15 x 20 cm, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
The work "All in one" joins the series of Pistoletto's "mirror paintings" and the conceptual continuation of them in his self-portraits. The work consists of a mirror and a small corner, that is attached separately, on which Pistoletto has left his signature. The artist plays with the magical, almost auratic meaning of the artist's signature. Is the signature missing the work decreases immensely in its value, which is connected with the myth of originality, the artist as ingenious creator and origin of the work. Pistoletto plays with this tradition in which he uses the idea of the "ready-mades" by signing a simple mirror and transforming it to a work of art. The corner is indeed separated, thus the visitor’s reflection in the mirror becomes the most important part of the work.
Sfera di giornali
1966-2018, newspapers, Ø 100 cm, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
Pistoletto’s „Newspaper Spheres“ (Sfere di giornali) were first conceived and executed between 1965 and 1968. It was rolled out onto the streets of Turin and became the historical performance known as the “Walking Sculpture“ (“Scultura da Passeggio”). The work comes out from the temple – from the artist’s studio, the gallery, or the museum – in order to enter into the dimension of common things which are part of human society. During the performance, everyone is invited to roll the ball, to touch it and become part of the artwork. This version of the „Walking Sculpture“ is covered with newspapers published in Azerbaijan, thus reflects pressing contemporary new stories, bringing attention to the everyday turmoil. Spheres evoke the concept of circulation, pairing nicely with the literal imagery of newspapers, which circulate information. “The performance’s main focus is not about the individual conception of it by the artist, but about the fusion and involvement between the people in the artistic world and those you may encounter on the street, who are part of the common everyday life.” explains the artist.
La Conferenza
1975, 21 photographs on aluminium, 30 x 40 cm each, exhibition copy, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
“The conference” (“La Conferenza”) is a result of a photographic action held at the Stein Gallery in Turin in 1975. It represents the speaker and his twenty listeners. During the action the speaker and the listeners were taking mutual pictures of each. The result was a single group picture of the audience taken by the speaker and twenty pictures of the speaker taken by the listeners. Together with “Raggi di Persone” which happened in the same year and same place the work remains particularly relevant exploring concepts of democracy and tyranny.
Raggi di persone
1975, 20 photographs on aluminium, 30 x 40 cm, exhibition copy, unique work
Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
The work “Rays of people” ("Raggi di persone“) was carried out in the same place and year as “The Conference” (”La Conferenca”). The artist explains: “While the two participants take photographs of the opposite corners of the gallery, all the others capture the scene from the different positions they find themselves in. The twenty images thus obtained are subsequently exhibited, at eye level, along the four walls of a room, documenting simultaneously the view of all the participants”. The sense associated with this work is the relationship “one-many, many-one”, to mean that we are always in relation to somebody, creating an endless network of interconnections.