Michelangelo Pistoletto | Robilant + Voena
I last covered the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto just after the beginning of the Artangled project, in early 2018. I was a bit mean to describe his use of mirrors in his art, ever since he got started as part of the arte povera movement in the 1960s, as making him a “one trick pony”. But it’s a fair comment. Then as now, all the works are mirrored.
That said, the compositions are quite different. The mirrors I saw back in 2018 were works produced about a decade ago, featuring silk-screened images of scaffali (shelves) on the reflective surfaces. As I noted at the time, these shelves were “utilitarian, metallic, scuffed”, very arte povera. It fit well with the clinical white cube surroundings of the now-closed Simon Lee Gallery.
Six years later and Pistoletto is showing up the road in the much-grander Robilant+Voena space. It’s generally new works (the artist is alive and kicking at 91). The series pictured above, ‘Black and Light’ (from 2024) on the left, ‘Vortex triptych’ (shown at the Louvre in 2013) on the right, employ dark and clear mirrored glass in vaguely groovy patterns. They’re surrounded by heavy, fancy gilded frames.
Below, another new series, ‘Color and Light’, where the glass comes in shards, set on brightly-uniformly coloured canvas, and again surrounded by fancy frames. It’s a gesture towards luxe. It fits in well with the luxurious gallery space. It’s fancily decorative, which surely is about as far from arte povera ideals as you can get.
It’s not all about the composition though. Pistoletto’s original trick still works - explaining why he’s still showing in this lovely space six decades after getting started. When I looked into the mirrored glass, I saw myself. Six years older, in my winter’s coat and hat, clutching a press release.
Just as I did in 2018, I took some interesting selfies. This time around, I noticed that my phone case matched the colour of one of the canvases. Then I dropped the camera, and looked at myself. Still me. It’s what he knew I’d do.
Michelangelo Pistoletto is at Robilant + Voena (London). 11 October - 15 November 2024