Michelangelo Pistoletto

donated by the artist

Some recent solo exhibitions
Galleria Continua, San Gimignano 2009
Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York 2008, 'Trans Border Trans Limit Trans Gression'
Simon Lee Gallery, London 2007
Galleria Civica di Modena, 2005, 'Michelangelo Pistoletto e Cittadellarte'

Some recent group exhibitions
Biennale di Venezia, Venice 2009
Biennale of Sydney, 2008
XIV Quadriennale di Roma, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, 2005
Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, 2002

Selected publications
Gilbert Perlein, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Nice: Ville de Nice 2007
Marco Farano [et al.], Michelangelo Pistoletto: il varco dello specchio, azioni e collaborazioni 1967-2004, Turin: Fondazione Torino Musei 2005
Elena Carotti, Charles Gute (ed.), Giants: Marina Abramovic, Domenico Bianchi, Joseph Kosuth, Maurizio Mochetti, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Milan: Charta 2001

Selected public and corporate collections
Pistoletto's work is in public collections in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere.

This work appears to be in generally very good condition. There is a light horizontal scratch of approx. 2cm in the central area above the neck of the right figure. The colours are warmer compared to the catalogue illustration. The image of the two figures is less sharp than in the catalogue illustration. Signed to the reverse with: n. 554 cinquecentocinquantaquattro Michelangelo Pistoletto 'A Call' serigrafie suacciaio inox 1962-2010 super mirror 70 by 100cm.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the early 1960s Michelangelo Pistoletto made the first Mirror Paintings, which directly include the viewer and real time in the work, and open up perspective, reversing the Renaissance perspective. The Mirror Paintings are the foundation of his subsequent artistic output and theoretical thought. In 1965 and 1966 he produced a set of works entitled Minus Objects, considered fundamental to the birth of Arte Povera, an art movement of which Pistoletto was an animating force and a protagonist. In 1967 he began to work outside traditional exhibition spaces, with the first instances of that 'creative collaboration' he developed over the following decades by bringing together artists from different disciplines and various sectors of society. In 1978 Pistoletto defined two main directions his future artwork would take: Division and Multiplication of the Mirror, and Art Takes On Religion. During the 1990s, with Project Art and with the creation in Biella of Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, University of Ideas, he took another step towards art and producing responsible social change.
Pistoletto received the Venice Biennale's Golden Lion for Lifelong Achievement (2003), and the University of Turin awarded him a laurea honoris causa in Political Science (2004).

Michelangelo Pistoletto is a former advisor of the Rijksakademie.

www.pistoletto.it