Exhibition Review
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Michelangelo Pistoletto: MOMA until 30th December 1999 |
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Michelangelo
Pistoletto is a surprisingly down-to-earth modern artist. When he
speaks about his work you can really see his point, rather than asking
yourself what the whole thing is all about. He began his mirror paintings
in 1961, and the concept of reflection has influenced his work ever
since. For Pistoletto, every work of art is a reflection onto a particular
spacial situation. By means of the mirror, this space becomes continually
mobile, preventing us from forming a fixed relationship with the thing
we are perceiving. This
also has the fascinating effect that the people in the gallery become
a part of the work you are looking at, as they are reflected in the
backround and are part of the scene. This is particularly appropriate
in the case of the Waiting series, works which show people waiting,
in queues and on street corners, against the mirror background. Furthermore,
the idea of the body itself as symettrical, and as such, self-reflective.
That is, that it can be folded over in the middle into a perfect match
of arm over legs. This is another interesting theme throughout the
exhibition, and the Leonardo Da Vinci vitruvian man emblem a recurring
shape. |