Michelangelo Pistoletto
Balloon
1983

About the Item

Balloon. Original color silkscreen on aluminum foil, 1983. Edition of 15 signed and numbered impressions on Arches paper. Art and Sport portfolio: The Yugoslav Olympic Committee of the Winter Olympic Games Sarajevo 1984 wished to give a certain cultural-artistic accent to this world festivity. The admire of the Olympic idea, those who have a liking for the Olympic winter sports and the art connected with them will be, in agreement with the art publisher Visconti Art Lazo Vujić, honored by creations contributed by world known prominent artist. A portfolio containing sixteen original prints, handsigned and numbered by the artists, is published in a limited edition of 200 originals by each artist. Names like Dorazio, Folon, Greco, Helnwein, Hodgkin, Hwang, Kolar, Moore, Paladino, Pistoletto, Rosenquist, Santomaso, Stupica, Twombly and Warhol guarantee the high quality of the artistic idea and its realization. The size of the original print is 85 x 62 cm. The edition of the original graphic portfolio will be accompanied by limited editions of art posters of the same size, not numbered, but each of them carrying an impression of the inscription "Olympic Games Sarajevo 1984" and its logotype. The themes proposed by the artists are either winter sports, the Olympic idea or the town of Sarajevo. All the artists remain faithful to their own specific expression, using the formal elements of the language developed through the years of their creative presence in world's art. So every print included in the portfolio is at the same time a particular contribution to the continuity of their artistic orientation, the theme being an additional iconographic impulse to their visual research. The symbiosis of the Olympic idea and art is certainly an interesting creative proposal that will fascinate art-collectors and sport-lovers as well. Michelangelo Pistoletto is an Italian painter, performance artist and theorist, and one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. He is famous for his stainless steel paintings with mirror-like surfaces as well as his sculptural installations. He had always shown his strong interest in the conceptual aspects of art objects, which included the use of humble and discarded materials. In many of his works there are creative collaborators involved and different disciplines, including mixing elements of music, theater, and installation, along with other visual art elements. This balloon created for the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo has five interlocking rings - a symbol of the Olympic Games. Pistoletto created the balloon to look like it is made of some reflecting material like a mirror, and its reddish color changes the colors of rings.

Creator:
Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933, Italian)
Creation Year:
1983
Dimensions:
Height: 33.08 in (84 cm)Width: 24.41 in (62 cm)
Medium:
Foil,Mixed Media,Screen
Movement & Style:
Post-Modern
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Ljubljana, SI
Reference Number:
Seller: SKU: 1551stDibs: LU2244211739742
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Michelangelo Pistoletto

Michelangelo Pistoletto is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist born in Biella, in 1933. He is now one of the great exponents of Italian and indeed international contemporary art with over sixty years of experience. From a young age Pistoletto worked in his father’s restoration workshop but in the 50s, he began painting figurative works and self-portraits. In 1959, he participated in the Biennale di San Marino and one year later he hosted his first solo-exhibition at the Galleria Galatea in Turin. In the 60s, Pistoletto combined painting with photography using collage techniques on reflective backgrounds and eventually moved to printing photorealistic scenes on steel plates polished to a high finish which he achieved using the screen-printing method which allowed the observer to almost completely melt into what was depicted. In the mid-60s, Pistoletto gained international audience thanks to gallery owner Ileana Sonnabend, and began exhibiting his work in the USA, where he had his first solo-exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In 1967, he was awarded first prize at the São Paulo Art Biennial but later that year he began focusing on performance, video-art and theatre which led him to found the action art group called Zoo Group. Pistoletto also began painting on mirrors early in his career, attempting to connect painting with the constantly changing realities in which the work finds itself. As he explored this form, he began bringing together rags with casts of the omnipresent classical statuary of Italy to break down the hierarchies of art and common objects. The use of impoverished materials as a form of art is a clear indication of Pistoletto’s approach to the Arte Povera. Although being influenced by the American post-pop art and photorealism, Pistoletto was soon listed by gallery owners and critics as a significant representative of the mostly Italian trend of the Arte Povera. The aim of his work was always to display the unity of art and everyday life.