Michelangelo Pistoletto

Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 23 June 1933) is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject matter of reflection (especially in his Mirror Paintings) and the unification of art and everyday life in terms of a Gesamtkunstwerk. Michelangelo Pistoletto’s art was prominently featured in major international exhibitions, including Documenta 7 and 9 in Kassel (1982 and 1992), as well as the Venice Biennales of 1984, 1986, and 1993. Pistoletto received the Leone d’Oro for lifetime achievement at the 2003 Venice Biennale. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Wolf Foundation Prize in Jerusalem, acknowledging his extensive contributions to the art world. In 2000 the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona held a retrospective of his work. In 2013, Michelangelo Pistoletto was awarded the Japanese Praemium Imperiale Michelangelo Pistoletto has been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The 91-year-old artist, a pivotal figure in Arte Povera, was nominated for his belief in art as an essential tool for peace. The artist positions art as a catalyst for significant social and environmental consciousness.

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pozzi, 976-1992, Spiegel Holz Maße:variabel, Unikate, Photo Christoph Knoch, Courtesy Galerie Tanit