Michelangelo Pistoletto

° 1933

Born in Biella (IT), lives in Biella (IT).

Michelangelo Pistoletto is associated with Arte Povera. In the 1960s, he defines a new kind of monumentality by combining rags and 'worthless' materials with forms from classical antiquity. From 1962 on, he starts using mirrors and gold, silver or copper as a reflective background for cut-out photographs of life-size human figures. These superpositions fuse past and present  into a single image, putting the very idea of representation to the test, whereas the division and multiplication of reflections express Pistoletto's vision on the continued development of the universe as a reflective process. In recent years, the mirrors are often shown without the extra layer of figuration, and sometimes they are intentionally broken. Pistoletto has created an oeuvre that is well known for its formal complexity, as well as for its social ambition.

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About M HKA / Mission Statement

The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.