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MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
Preventive Peace / Preventive Peace
May 10 - September 10, 2024
Edited by Maja Kolaric
The Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of Michelangelo Pistoletto's first major exhibition in Belgrade on May 10. Spread over two floors of the Museum, the exhibition is intended to be a survey of more than sixty years of activity, presenting the full range of works by this prominent Italian artist and one of the most influential contemporary artists in Europe today.
A major protagonist of Italian Arte Povera, Michelangelo Pistoletto (born in Biella in 1933) has always been an artist whose practice was deeply connected to society, embodying the beauty of the contrast of everyday life and teaching us to see beyond the materiality of things. Bringing art into society and connecting it to everyday life is at the core of his work, using art as a tool for responsible social transformation. Spanning from the 1960s to the present, the exhibition Preventive Peace will present some of Pistoletto's most iconic works, such as Mirror Paintings, Venus of Rags, Minus Objects, Love Differences - Artistic Movement for an Intermediterranean Politics, The Third Paradise and many others, alongside some of his more recent production. This comprehensive anthological exhibition will present the artist's entire vocabulary from the early days, including capital works, sculptures and installations, but also photographs, videos, early public actions to the most recent QR-coded colorful paintings, which can be enjoyed visually as abstract art but also activate revelatory stories - making this exhibition an important event for both the museum and the artist. The selection of works highlights the duality between being and non-being, materiality and spirituality, reality and fiction, nature and technology. Pistoletto's visionary approach seeks to breathe new life into the world, promoting a sense of possibility and striving for a better order, a more natural and humane environment. Preventive Peace is thus the title of the exhibition that will pay homage to Michelangelo Pistoletto in Belgrade, offering the public a discursive and mystical journey. Preventive Peace aims to transcend the conventions of a traditional art exhibition, charging it with profound meanings, inviting the public to reflect on this delicate historical moment of wars and conflicts that not only take lives but also erode love, emphasizing cultural and racial differences and violent human nature. The exhibition aspires to give voice to the themes of love, empathy, peace and the imperative to cultivate tolerance in this day and age and to find greater respect for nature. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with theses by Danilo Eccher, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Maja Kolaric. The exhibition is organized in cooperation with Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, Zerynthia Association for Contemporary Art ODV and the Italian Institute in Belgrade, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade, as part of the anniversary of 145 years of diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia and 100 years of the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade.
Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade
Ušće 10, blok 15
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
T +381 11 3676288
F +381 11 3676288
msub@msub.org.rs
msub.org.rs
