Michelangelo Pistoletto

MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO (Biella, Piedmont, 1933).
"Colomba", 1962-1974.
Print made for the albums "Hommage à Picasso".
Silkscreen on polished stainless steel mirror, copy XXVIII/XXX.
Signed and justified by hand.
Co-published by Propyläen-Verlag, Berlin, and Pantheon Press, Rome.
Provenance: Toninelli Gallery, Monaco (2008); Private collection, Monaco.
Exhibitions: Studio Guastalla Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Milan, May 21 - June 26, 2013 (similar model).
Bibliography: "Let's reflect on the works of Michelangelo Pistoletto", Guastalla Studio Modern and Contemporary Art. Graphis Arte edition, exhibition catalog, 2013, pp. 32-33 (similar pattern).
Measurements: 55 x 75 cm; 65 x 85 cm (frame).

"Colomba" synthesizes Michelangelo Pistoletto's conceptual power through the mirror, one of the most radical gestures of the contemporary avant-garde and core of his philosophical thought. Conceived as a tribute to Pablo Picasso, the piece appropriates the dove, the iconic symbol of peace, to reinterpret it under the aesthetics of Povera. Through the use of silkscreen printing on polished stainless steel, Pistoletto fuses historical iconography with the present; the mirrored metal dissolves the boundaries of the work by integrating the viewer and his surroundings into a dynamic and shared pictorial space.

Michelangelo Pistoletto is one of the most influential Italian artists in contemporary art and a key figure in the development of Arte Povera. His work, begun in the 1950s, is characterized by a constant reflection on the relationship between art, the individual and society, as well as by the dissolution of the boundaries between the artistic work and everyday life. After training in his father's restoration workshop, Pistoletto began his pictorial career with introspective self-portraits. In the early 1960s he developed his famous Mirror Paintings, polished steel surfaces on which he incorporates figurative images. These works introduce the viewer into the composition, making him or her an active part of the work and proposing a new conception of time, space and participation in art.

At the end of the 1960s he joined the Arte Povera movement, together with artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz and Alighiero Boetti. In this context he created some of his most emblematic works, among them Venus of the Rags (1967), in which he confronts the heritage of the classical tradition with the residues of the consumer society, establishing a poetic and social criticism of great impact. Since the 1990s, Pistoletto has broadened his artistic practice to include social, educational and political projects. In 1998 he founded Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, an interdisciplinary center dedicated to the responsible transformation of society through art. In this framework he developed the concept of the Third Paradise, a symbolic and philosophical proposal that advocates a balance between nature, technology and humanity. His work has been exhibited in major museums and international institutions and is part of numerous public and private collections. In 2003 he received the Golden Lion for his career at the Venice Biennale, consolidating his position as one of the great references of contemporary art. Some of his works are kept in contemporary art museums around the world, such as the Tate Gallery in London or the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.