Lugano
Michelangelo Pistoletto was born in Biella in 1933. He studied art in the studio of his father, a painter and restorer. In 1961, he created the series Il Presente, and in 1962, Quadri specchianti, works that made him famous for including both the viewer and the real dimension of time. In a number of his later works he used reclaimed waste materials, aligning himself conceptually with an Arte Povera approach: La Venere degli stracci (1967) is the most renown example of this practice. In 1967, he won first prize at the Sao Paulo Biennale. In those years, his studio was a focus for the formation of the Zoo group, with whom he collaborated in various projects. In the early 1980s, he began to use polyurethane foam while also creating marble sculpture, two materials he often superimposed, covered with clothing or painted. In 1989, he executed the series of twelve enlarged photos or the Volumi della Quarta Generazione. In a former factory at Biella in 1998, he inaugurated the Cittadellarte- Fondazione Pistoletto, intended as a centre for young artists to meet and share their work. He exhibited many times at the Venice Biennale (1966, 1976, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2005) and at dOCUMENTA, Kassel (1968, 1982, 1992, 1997). His most recent solo shows include ones at the GNAM, Rome (1990); the Kunstbau Lenbachhaus, Munich (1996); the Civic Gallery of Modern Art, Modena (2005); the Serpentine Gallery, London (2011); and the Louvre, Paris (2013).
Source: Magonza Editore
