Anja Tufina

I was in Paris the other week invited by Reda, the italian luxury textilte company, to the  visit the Louvre exhibition of the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. More and more Italian companies in the fashion industry are supporting art through different initiatives and in this case Reda sponsors the famous conceptual artist in what is the most important exhibition in his career. I can’t think of how many modern artists can get the opportunity to showcase their works in the most important museum in the world. 

Titled Year 1: Earthly Pradise this exhibition turned out to be more of a treasure hunt through the different floors of the museum. The art works weren’t put in the same room but distributed around all the Louvre so following a map was obligatory. While people say it takes 3 days to visit the most amazing museum in the world, I managed to check all 3 main floors in few hours. Ok I didn’t stand looking for long minutes to every painting and sculpture, but I managed to check all the Pistoletto artworks while also taking time to check also the famous Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Psyche revided by the kiss of love and more.

For those who are art lovers Pistoletto is a well-known conceptual artist which at Louvre presents his most famous works through the years. All his art is based on the innovative use of images as well as the use of the art of the past to give messages to our current times. Pistoletto’s most famous artwork is the Venus of the rags (1967) which features the Roman goddess of love and beauty which presses against a pile of fabrics and clothes which represent beauty and ugliness, the precious and cheap. The Third Paradise which is Pistoletto’s signiture with the infinity sign made of 3 circles was represented made by fabrics which crowns an obelisk made out of mirrored facades. Other interesting works given the location of the exhibition were the mirrored images, especially the one representing a tourist taking a picture which was placed in the same room as the Mona Lisa. This artwork was the perfect representation in a room where everyone is more busy taking a picture of Michelangelo’s painting than really looking at the painting. In the 21st century we are seeing the world through the lens of our cellphones.