michelangelo pistoletto: the mirror of judgment

michelangelo pistoletto: the mirror of judgement serpentine gallery, london, UK july 12th – september 17th, 2011

michelangelo pistoletto: labirinto e grande pozzo (1969–2008) corrugated cardboard, mirror: dimensions variable courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin photograph by bertrand huet © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto

in ‘the mirror of judgement’, italian artist michelangelo pistoletto sets a number of his sculptural works amidst the winding passageways of a labyrinth, composed of corrugated cardboard. he describes the exhibition as ‘a winding and unforeseeable road that leads us to the place of revelation, of knowledge‘.

pistoletto’s first artistic explorations in 1962 in what would become the arte povera movement involved painting onto mirrors, and the ‘mirror of judgement’ as a whole borrows both actual works and material and conceptual influences from his forty-year oeuvre. pieces incorporated into the labyrinth include elements from pistoletto’s ‘third paradise’ series, which imagines a new form of human civilization, and representations of each of four major religions: christianity, judaism, islam, and buddhism.

the form of a labyrinth has long been used as a metaphor for discovery and personal journeying. here, pistoletto’s long-standing interest in participatory art provides another layer of experience of the spiraling path, which ‘alters the viewers’ understanding of the architecture, [making] each one a fundamental part of the work itself.‘

‘the mirror of judgement’ is on exhibition from july 12th to september 17th at the serpentine gallery in london.

michelangelo pistoletto: labirinto e megafoni (1969) installation view at museum boymans van beuningen, rotterdam courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto

michelangelo pistoletto: inginocchiatoio (2008) mirror: 250 x 200 cm; wooden kneeling-stool: 99 x 50 x 49 cm courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin photograph by aurélien mole © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto

michelangelo pistoletto: inginocchiatoio (2008) Mirror: 250 x 200 cm; wooden kneeling-stool: 99 x 50 x 49 cm courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin photograph by ela bialkowska © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto

michelangelo pistoletto: the labyrinth (1969-2007) corrugated cardboard: meters of cardboard courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin photograph by oak taylor-smith © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto

michelangelo pistoletto: the cubic meter of infinity in a mirroring cube (1966–2007) mirror, neon lights, plaster: 500 x 500 x 500 cm courtesy of galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / le moulin photograph by oak taylor-smith © 2011 michelangelo pistoletto