Michelangelo Pistoletto Italian, b. 1933

Michelangelo Pistoletto is one of the most influential figures in postwar European art and a founding member of the Arte Povera movement. He is best known for his mirror paintings, a groundbreaking body of work begun in the early 1960s, which features life-size photographic images transferred onto polished steel surfaces. These reflective works integrate the viewer and their surroundings directly into the artwork, dissolving the boundary between art and life. By capturing the present moment within a fixed image, Pistoletto creates a dialogue between the static and the dynamic, the personal and the collective.

While his mirror works brought him international acclaim, Pistoletto’s broader practice spans sculpture, performance, installation, and social practice. In the 1990s, he founded Cittadellarte, a multidisciplinary foundation dedicated to using art as a tool for social transformation, further reflecting his belief in art’s potential to impact real-world systems.