Michelangelo Pistoletto

Amare le differenze (Loving Differences) is the phrase translated into 39 languages that appears on the city’s most important food market in the multi-ethnic Porta Palazzo district. In Pistoletto’s thinking, differences, which are often the reason for social conflicts, are also the aspect to be valorised in order to resist a system that tends towards standardisation. His urge therefore goes beyond the usual categories of tolerance and inclusion and “penetrates directly into the sphere of feeling.” 

The work is part of Love Difference – Artistic Movement for an InterMediterranean Politic of Cittadellarte’s Policy Bureau, which “unites the universality of art with the idea of political transnationality and focuses its activity on the Mediterranean area as it reflects the problems of global society.” Love Difference is in keeping with Pistoletto’s path and in particular with the 1994 Progetto Arte manifesto and the creation of Cittadellarte, a Biella-based foundation established in 1998 to “inspire and produce responsible change in society through creative ideas and projects.” The social vocation of the Amare le differenze light is enhanced by the context of Porta Palazzo, a working-class neighbourhood, a real crossroads of people and goods from different countries.  

Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, 1933) made his debut in the late 1950s, to gain critical attention shortly afterwards with Quadri specchianti (Mirror Paintings). One of the protagonists of Arte Povera, he created works that became symbols of an entire artistic season such as the Venere degli stracci (Venus of the Rags) or of the protest against the art system itself such as Oggetti in meno (Minus objects) (both 1967), and since then the involvement of the viewer has been one of the central themes of his work. An internationally renowned artist with exhibitions and works in the world’s most important museums, in 2003 Pistoletto presented his Love Difference project at the Venice Biennale, where he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Since 2004, he started the Third Paradise project. 

He has participated in thirteen editions of the Venice Biennale (1966, 1968, 1976, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2017) and four documenta in Kassel (1968, 1982, 1992, 1997). Michelangelo Pistoletto's recent exhibitions in Italy and internationally include: Louvre Abu Dhabi (2022); Chiostro del Bramante, Rome (2023); Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli (2023) and Real Academia de España, Rome (2024).   

Silvia Maria Sara Cammarata