211. 211AR MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO (B. 1933) Fiat - Ritmo, 1978 Silkscreen on mirror-polished stainless steel Signed and numbered 185/300 in marker on the back Published by FIAT Produced by Arte 3, Milan 50 x 60.3 cm Silkscreen print on mirror-polished stainless steel, signed and numbered 185/300 in marker on the back The work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of Michelangelo Pistoletto's multiples, currently being published. We would like to thank the Fondazione Pistoletto for the information it has kindly provided about this work. In 1962, when Michelangelo Pistoletto created his first lamiera specchiante, he replaced the canvas with a mirror: in this way, the "livable" (the outside world reflected) entered directly into the work itself. From that point onwards, his creativity branched out in other directions too (theatre, action, music, etc.), while retaining the mirror and reflexivity as the focal point of each of his aesthetic approaches. "Fiat-Ritmo", the serial work he created for Fiat, is a typical expression of his art. In it we find the reflexivity of stainless steel, used to encompass the concreteness of the surrounding world; the photographic recording of an ordinary moment in everyday life (the car door open), as if taken from a journalistic report; and again, the photograph that extends into perspective thanks to the rear-view mirror, in which the reflected detail refers to the "presence" of industry. With the clean lines of the car's structural planes, enhanced by the contrast between the subdued greys of the image and the cold materiality of the steel, the work points to the unity of three distinct moments: raw material - industrial product - brand. In this way, it communicates a double aesthetic meaning: the reflection of reality, typical of Pistoletto, and the vital flow of industry, reflected in the three essential segments of his daily journey. Bibliography Al limite. Arte e fotografia tra gli anni Sessanta e Settanta, exhibition catalogue, Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore, Milan, 2006, ripr. b/n. p. 105 Exhibition Reggio Emilia, Chiostri di S. Domenico, 29 aprile - 23 luglio 2006, "Al limite. Arte e fotografia tra gli anni Sessanta e Settanta".