From the Luhring Augustine Gallery in New York to the Simon Lee in London, this is the journey of “Scaffali”, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s exhibition opening in the UK on 23^rd February and running until 7^th April 2018. After a stop in the Big Apple from 3^rd November 2017 (see our previous article), Londoners will also be able to discover from up close the selection of recent mirror paintings, whose depiction of industrial storage presents a tension between aesthetics and functionality. The artist from Biella will also be the protagonist of the day preceding the opening of the exhibition to the public: on 22^nd February, in fact, before the vernissage from 6 to 8 pm, there will be a public conversation with Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, which will host the event in the Ondaatje Wing Theatre. The meeting between Pistoletto and Cullinan, held from 4 to 5 pm, will be centred on the analysis of Pistoletto’s artistic practice, going into the specifics of the exhibition “Scaffali”. The initiative is free, but you need to book (click here for the ticket office site). Another event involving the artist from Biella as special guest is a talk at the Wimbledon College of Arts on 21^st February at 5pm, a dialogue between Pistoletto and Chiara Messineo.

But let’s now focus on the contents of the exhibition. Among the objects depicted are tools and vessels belonging to various trades, including cans of paint, camera lenses and automotive parts. These works are images silk screen printed on mirror polished stainless steel. While Pistoletto has typically relied on the mirror’s reflective surface to seamlessly integrate pictorial space with the physical space of the viewer, the “Scaffali” paintings appear to complicate this relationship. The shelves allude to notions of dormancy and stasis, and, as photographic images, they are also emblematic of a fixed time and place. By contrast, the mirror’s reflection of the present moment and its unique capacity to introduce endlessly fluctuating content challenges the inherent stability imposed by the shelf’s frame. As the shelves occupy the majority of the picture plane, thereby minimizing the viewer’s participation, the “Scaffali” paintings foreground their object-like status and command a strong sculptural presence.