Trans border Trans limit Trans gression

Luhring Augustine is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. This marks the artist’s first major solo exhibition in 9 years in New York and is his first with the gallery. Pistoletto is one of Arte Povera’s most significant protagonists. His iconic mirror paintings and installations, that have earned him rapid and lasting international recognition, represent the artist’s dual interest in conceptualism and figurative representation.

Michelangelo Pistoletto was born in Biella, Italy in 1933 into a family of art restorers. He attended Armando Testa’s advertising design school in Turin. The development of his signature works began in 1962 and was considered fundamental to the birth of Arte Povera, an art movement theorized by Germano Celant in 1967. The term translates to poor art, but the movement as a whole encompassed far more than the use of humble materials. During the sixties and seventies, several young artists based in Italy strove to create work in a spirit of experimentation and openness.

Pistoletto has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and United States and his works are owned by numerous museums and institutions worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., Tate Modern, London, Museo Reina Sophia, Madrid, Beaubourg, Paris, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Rivoli, Turin and Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Seoul. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at The Henry Moore Foundation, Halifax, Galerie Taxispalais, Innsbruck, GAM, Turin, MACBA, Barcelona, Fondazione Burri, Perugia, Contemporary Museum of Bosnia, Sarajevo, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, MuHKA, Antwerp, Galleria Civica, Modena and at the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain in Nice. A retrospective of his work is scheduled to be held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2010.