Michelangelo Pistoletto (Italian, born 1933) is widely recognized in Europe as one of its most influential contemporary artists and is increasingly gaining recognition in the United States. As the artist’s first focused survey in the U.S. in more than two decades, Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many, 1956–1974 places Pistoletto’s work in the context of the postwar sociocultural transformations of Italy, Western Europe, and North America while also exploring its relationship to Pop, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art. The exhibition will include more than one hundred works of art—many of which have never before been seen in the United States—that will range from early self-portraits to subsequent series of works, including Quadri specchianti (Mirroring Paintings), Oggetti in meno (Minus Objects), and Stracci (Rags).

Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many will trace the progression of Pistoletto’s artistic focus from a rigorous investigation of the representations of the self in the mid-1950s to his collaborative actions of the late 1960s to the mid-1970s that lie at the heart of many artists’ participatory practices today.

The Museum will also present the artist’s current work from his interdisciplinary laboratory, Cittadellarte. Michelangelo Pistoletto: Cittadellarte will highlight the intellectual, political, and social dialogues fostered by Cittadellarte, which was founded by the artist in 1998 by in Biella, Italy. The installation will play host to a series of performances, lectures, and workshops to bring the innovative spirit of this artistic center to the Museum and the city of Philadelphia.