Selection of the main critical essays on Michelangelo Pistoletto
In order to facilitate the availability of some of the earliest critical essays listed here, is reported their reproduction in the catalogues of some solo exhibitions of the artist indicated with place and year of their occurrence.
  • Luigi Carluccio, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Galatea, Torino, April 1960
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Luigi Carluccio, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Galatea, Torino, April 1963
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966; Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Angelo Dragone, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “La Stampa”, Torino, 6 May 1963
    Partially reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Alain Jouffroy, untitled; Tommaso Trini, untitled; Michael Sonnabend, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, March 1964
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966; Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • John Ashbery, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in „New York Herald Tribune“ (International Edition), 3 March 1964, republished in John Ashbery, Reported Sightings: Art Chronicles 1957-1987, pp. 158-159, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1989

  • Annette Michelson, Paris Letter: Pistoletto, in “Art International”, Lugano, April 1964

  • Annina Nosei, Pistoletto, in “Collage”, n. 2, Palermo, March 1964
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Ettore Sottsass jr., Pop e non pop, a proposito di Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Domus”, n. 414, Milano, May 1964
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Tommaso Trini, La realtà circolare di Pistoletto, typewritten, 1964, in T. Trini, Mezzo secolo di arte intera. Scritti 1964-2014, Johan & Levi, Monza 2016

  • Ettore Sottsass jr., Pistoletto, in catalogue of the exhibition, Sala Espressioni-Ideal Standard, Milano, February - March 1965

  • Michael Sonnabend, Pistoletto, in “Konstrevy”, n. 6, Stoccolma, 1965, republished in English as Michael Sonnabend, A Strange Shock, in “Metro”, n. 12, Bergamo 1968

  • Martin Friedman, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, April 1966
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966; Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Maurizio Fagiolo, Il dramma fisico di Pistoletto, in “Avanti!”, Roma, 7 May 1966.
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966

  • Tommaso Trini, Pistoletto, in “Egoiste”, n. 1, Antwerpen, 1966/1967
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966

  • Tommaso Trini, No Man’s Mirror, in “Domus”, n. 449, Milano, April 1967

  • John Ashbery, Talking of Michelangelo, in “Art News”, n. 65, New York, Summer 1966
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966

  • Sidney Simon, Pistoletto, in “Art International”, n. X/6, Lugano, Summer 1966
    Reproduced in: Genova, 1966

  • Maurizio Calvesi, Lo spazio degli elementi, presentation of the exhibition Terra Acqua Aria Fuoco, Galleria l’Attico, Roma, May 1967
    Partially reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Henry Martin, Mirror Mirror… [reproduced in: “Marcatre”, Milano, n. 30-33, July 1967; 1984, Firenze; 1990, Roma]; Jean Dypréau, Pistoletto ou le peintre devant et derrière le miroir, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 14 April - 7 May 1967

  • Giulio Carlo Argan, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, L’Attico, Roma, February 1968
    Partially reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Alberto Boatto, Pistoletto: dissipazione come procedimento, in “Cartabianca”, n. 1, Roma, March 1968

  • Henry Martin, Pistoletto, in “Art International”, n. 2, February, Lugano 1969

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, In prima persona, su retro locandina degli spettacoli dello Zoo Il principe pazzo e Il tè di Alice, Galleria Il centro, Napoli, February 1969

  • Alberto Boatto, Michelangelo Pistoletto: Dentro/Fuori lo specchio, Edizioni Fantini, Roma, 1969 (text in Italian and English)
    Partially reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Henry Martin, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 22 March - 4 May 1969

  • Robert M. Murdock, untitled, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo - New York, 13 May - 15 June 1969

  • Tommaso Trini, Mai zu: del critico, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria dell’Ariete, Milano, 24 March - 21 April 1970

  • Germano Celant, Zoo, in “Sipario”, Milano, n. 291, July 1970
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Franco Quadri, Le sperimentazioni di Pistoletto, in “NAC”, n. 3, Milano, December 1970

  • Maurizio Calvesi, Plagio – Sonata a cinque dita per Meret Oppenheim, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria La Salita, Genova, June 1971
    Partially reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Henry Martin, Uno Zoo non è una badia, in “Data”, Milano, September 1971

  • Tommaso Trini, Franco Quadri, Germano Beringheli, Gualtiero Schönenberg, Scheda su Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “L’uomo e l’arte”, n. 7, Milano, December 1971

  • Wieland Schmied, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, 1973
    Partially reproduced: Firenze, 1984

  • Ugo Mulas, Pistoletto, in La fotografia, Einaudi, Torino, 1973
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Bernd Krimmel, Spiegelungen, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, 27 April - 26 May 1974

  • Tommaso Trini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Data”, n. 13, Milano, Fall 1974

  • Giulio Carlo Argan, Lo specchio è come il cielo…, in “L’Espresso”, Roma, 2 February 1975
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Tommaso Trini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Data”, n. 22, Milano, July-September 1976
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Germano Celant, Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Palazzo Grassi, Venezia, 16 June - 31 July 1976 (Electa Editore)

  • Valentina Anker, Les mises en abyme de Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. 16 ans à l’interieur du miroir, Galerie Marie-Louise Jeanneret, Genève, 21 September - 3 November 1977

  • Heinz Ohff, Einführung, in Pistoletto in Berlin, catalogue of the exhibition, Nationalgalerie and 13 public spaces, Berlino, 12 June - 12 November 1978

  • Mario Diacono, Mostra antilogica o logica della mostra, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Mario Diacono, Bologna, December 1978
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984 and partially in Roma, 1990

  • Anne Livet, Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Same Thing Only Different, in “Contemporary Art/Southeast, Volume II, n. 2, Michelangelo Pistoletto in the South.”, Atlanta, 1979

  • Dave Hickey, A voice in the mirror: Critical Reflections in the I/eye of the artist. From the conversation and prose of Michelangelo Pistoletto; Harris Rosenstein, Mirror-Works; Gudmund Vigtel, Creative Collaboration; Maynard Jackson, Creative Collaboration with the city of Atlanta, William Paul, Furniture Environments, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibitions “Mirror-Works”, Institut for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, 16 February - 15 April 1979; “Creative Collaborations”, The City of Atlanta and the High Museum of Art, 1 March - 7 April 1979; “Furniture Environments”, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, 15 April - 13 May 1979

  • Germano Celant, Rags (Per un firmamento di stracci), in Rags. Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, January 1980
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Isabella Puliafito, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Il Testa Coda, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Persano, Torino, December 1980

  • Marjorie Welish, Pistoletto’s American Campaign, in “Art in America”, n. 2, New York, February 1981

  • Corinna Ferrari, Il testa coda, in “Domus”, Milano, n. 615, March 1981
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; partially reproduced in Roma, 1990

  • Nicola Fano, L’arcangelo e il paese vagabondo, in “L’Unità”, Roma, 19 March 1981
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; partially reproduced in Roma, 1990

  • Giuseppe Gatt, Per lo spettatore un viaggio attraverso lo specchio, in “Avanti!”, Roma, 22 March 1981

  • Italo Tommasoni, untitled, in “Michelangelo Pistoletto. Anno Uno, programma di scena, Teatro Quirino, Roma, 1981

  • Arcangelo Izzo, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Una mano per l’arte, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, Campo Edizioni, Salerno, 1981

  • Bruno Corà, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. La mano, La testa, La spalla, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Pieroni, Roma, February 1982

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, L’incidente di Pistoletto, in “Segno”, Pescara, n. 27, July-August 1982
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Enrico R. Comi, Das Gleigewicht verschiedener Schwerpunkte bei Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, München, Galerie Tanit, December 1982 - January 1983

  • Aurora Garcia, Tantos Pistoletto en Pistoletto; Cermano Celant, Para Pistoletto el arte es una cuchilla [reproduced in 1984, Firenze; con il titolo Le lame di Pistoletto], in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Parque del Retiro, Palacio de Cristal et Istituto italiano di cultura, Madrid, 28 October - 1 December 1983

  • Aurora Garcia, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Avuil”, Barcelona, 22 December 1983
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; partially reproduced in Roma, 1990

  • Michelangelo Castello, Se il vero prende corpo, in “Tema celeste”, Siracusa, n. 1, November 1983
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984; Roma, 1990

  • Francisco Calvo Serraler, La sintesis magica de Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “El Pais” Madrid, 5 November 1983
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Fulvio Salvadori, Notes inspirées des oeuvres et des écrits de Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Sculptures 1981-1982-1983, catalogue of the exhibition, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Genève, 28 January - 29 February 1984

  • Giorgio Ficara, Venus coelestis, in “Tema celeste”, n 2, Siracusa, March 1984
    Reproduced in: Firenze, 1984

  • Michelangelo Castello, La nascita del Purgatorio, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. La nascita del Purgatorio, catalogue of the exhibition, Centro d’arte contemporanea, Siracusa, 24 February - 24 March 1984

  • Germano Celant, Terre emerse, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Forte del Belvedere, Firenze, March - May 1984
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Lorenza Trucchi, Se Michelangelo cita Michelangelo, in “Il Giornale Nuovo”, Milano, 8 April 1984
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Tommaso Trini, Gli artisti nel loro studio: Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Vogue Italia”, n. 419, February 1985

  • Rudi H. Fuchs, Borderline/Confine, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Quarta Generazione, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino, May - June 1985 (English and Italian)
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Tommaso Trini, Il nuovo sigillo/The New Seal, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Pieroni, Roma, March - April 1986 (English and Italian)
    Reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Lo spazio della riflessione nell’arte, Essegì, Ravenna, 1986

  • Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto. L’espace de la réflexion dans l’art, Centre National d’Art Contemporaine de Grenoble, 1986 [reduced version of the same text in Italian]

  • Daniel Soutif, La peinture au Pistoletto, in “Liberation”, Paris, 26 December 1986

  • Jacques Guillot, Mirror Time; Frank Kaiser, Drawing a volume in a mirror time/Pistoletto’s mirror or Narcissus inventing painting; Bruno Corà, I’m the mirror in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Centre National d’Art Contemporain/Magasin, Grenoble, 8 November 1986 - 11 January 1987

  • François Bazzoli, Double fond et jeux d’images, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Jalons anciens, oeuvres récentes, catalogue of the exhibition, Musée Cantini, Marseille, 29 November 1986 - 25 January 1987

  • Wim van Mulders, Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galerie Montevideo, Antwerpen, 12 September - 24 October 1987

  • Joechen Poetter, Incidente; Rosemarie E. Pahlke, Pistolettos Spiegel in Michelangelo Pistoletto – Distanza, catalogue of the exhibition, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, 8 October - 27 November 1988

  • Peter Pakesh, untitled; Bruno Corà, Il paesaggio – passaggio del tempo: le opere in meno di Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, January 1988

  • Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Sette Rilievi di un “Anno Bianco” e nero, in Pistoletto. Sette rilievi, catalogue of the exhibition, Museo di Capodimonte, Napoli, March 1989
    Partially reproduced in: Roma, 1990

  • Jan Foncé, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Bruxelles, 14 September - 14 October 1989

  • Germano Celant, Reflections on Lava, in Germano Celant, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Division and Multiplication of the Mirror, catalogue of the exhibition, New York, The Institute for Contemporary Art P.S. 1 Museum, 2 October - 27 November 1989

  • Francesco Poli, Reflections Unlimited, in “Contemporanea. International Art Magazine”, vol. II, n. 9, Torino/New York, December 1989

  • Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto: réflexion et élaboration du problème de l’Être, in “Artstudio. Regards sur l’Arte Povera”, Paris, Summer 1989

  • Augusta Monferini, Percorso di Pistoletto; Anna Imponente, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Un caso di catottrica, catottromanzia e arte in Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Roma, Galleria Nazionale d’arte Moderna, 8 June - 30 October 1990

  • Ulrich Loock, Michelangelo Pistolettos “Oggetti in meno” heute; Denys Zacharopoulos, Die Dimension der “Minus-Objecte” in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Oggetti in meno 1965-1966, catalogue of the exhibition, Kunsthalle, Bern, 20 October - 3 December 1989; Wiener Secession, Wien, 25 January - 25 February 1990

  • Bruno Corà, L’Anno Bianco 1989 di Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Bruno Corà (curated by) Michelangelo Pistoletto, Anno Bianco, Editrice Inonia, Roma, 1990

  • Tricia Collins & Richard Milazzo, Ephemeral Utopias. Michelangelo Pistoletto, in “Tema Celeste. International Art Review”, n. 26, July - October, Siracusa,1990; re-published in Italian in “Tema Celeste”, n. 29, Milano, January - February 1991

  • Thomas Deecke, Den Spiegel vorhalten, in Künstler, kritisches Lexicon der Gegenwartkunst, Ausgabe 11, Verlage Weltkunst und Bruckmann, München, 1990

  • Germano Celant, Pistoletto, Fabbri Editore, Milano, 1992

  • Antonio D’Avossa, M.P., El mirall i la perspectiva del revers; Josep-Miquel Garcia, Dels miralls i l’arquitectura, a l’arquitectura dels miralls in L’arquitectura del mirall. Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Centre d’art Santa Monica, Barcelona, 22 November 1990 - 10 January 1991 [català, English, Italian]

  • Barry Schwabsky, Michelangelo Pistoletto: Mirrors to Monuments, in “Sculpture”, Washington, vol. II, n. 1, January - February 1992

  • Zdenek Felix, Die Zeit des Spiegels, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Die Minus-Objekte, Spiegel, Gitter, catalogue of the exhibition, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, 11 March - 10 May 1992

  • Jorge Molder, Duplex; Jean Francois Chevrier, The Protagonist, in Pistoletto e la fotografia, catalogue of the exhibition, Fundação de Serralves, Oporto, 21 January - 14 March; Witte de With Art Centrum, Rotterdam, 3 April - 16 May 1993 [Portuguese and English]

  • Jacques Meuris,untitled, in “Le miroir comme tableau”, Livre d’Artiste, Le maitres de forme contemporains, Bruxelles, 1993

  • Peter Weibel, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto / Franz West – Lobor / In Arbeit, catalogue of the exhibition, Graz, Neue Galerie am Landsmuseum Joanneum, 6 May - 5 June 1994

  • Anna Imponente, Through the Mirrors of Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Pistoletto through the mirror, catalogue of the exhibition, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seul, 20 July - 21 August 1994

  • Bruno Corà, Michelangelo pistoletto: des tablaux-miroirs au Project art, un artiste sponsor de la pensée; Chris Dercon, Le mont-de-piété du gentiluome du XXè siècle, originiaire du Piémont in Michelangelo Pistoletto - L’homme pensant, catalogue of the exhibition, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, Bruxelles, 23 November 1994 - 19 February 1995

  • Lóránd Hegyi, Das Kunstwerk und die anderen Welt, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, Zeit-Räume; Denys Zacharopoulos, Der neue Materialismus oder Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist”; Monika Faber, Wand, Raum und Zeit in Michelangelo Pistoletto, Zeit-Räume, catalogue of the exhibition, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, 30 May - 10 September 1995

  • Antonio Natali, In aenigmate; Bruno Corà, Una pittura in divenire permanente, in Gli Uffizi. L’autroritratto di Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gli Uffizi. Studi e Ricerche. I pieghevoli, n. 27, Firenze, 16 December 1995

  • Bruno Corà, Le Porte del Progetto Arte; Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto: dai Quadri Specchianti al Progetto Arte, artista sponsor del pensiero; Chiara d’Afflitto, Progetto Arte a Palazzo Fabroni; Andreas Spiegl, Progetto Arte o l’indomabilità dello specchio; Elisabeth Schlebrügge, Nella cucina di Maria ovvero Associazione Famigliare in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Le porte di Palazzo Fabroni, catalogue of the exhibition, Pistoia, Palazzo Fabroni, 18 November 1995 - 11 February 1996 (ed. Charta)

  • Helmut Friedl, Erinnern, Erkennen, Vorausschauen – Vom Spiegel, Mode, Lumpen und Camouflage, in Memoria, Intelligentia, Praevidentia, catalogue of the exhibition, Kunstbau Lenbachhaus, München, 27 March - 23 June 1996

  • Zdenka Badovinac, untitled, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. 44 Photoceramics from Minus Objects 1965/66, catalogue of the exhibition, Mala Galerija Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, 15 November - 8 December 1996

  • Wolf Singer, Metrocubo d'infinito; Juliane Riehm, Pistolettos Spiegelbett, in Bernhard Balkenhol, Heiner Georgsdorf, x mal documenta X. Über Kunst und Künstler der Gegenwart. Ein NachLesebuch zur 10. documenta, Kunsthochschule der Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel, Kassel, 1997

  • Tommaso Trini, Lo specchio, la soglia, in Michelangelo Pistoletto – Quadri specchianti, catalogue of the exhibition, Studio Casoli, Roma, October 1998

  • Lóránd Hegyi, Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Work of Art and the World Outside, in Passage 4: Michelangelo Pistoletto/Micha Ullman, catalogue of the exhibition, Tel Aviv, Chelouche Gallery, 14 April - 16 May 1999

  • Matthias Dusini, Theater, Kunst, Politik und “Der Zoo”. Der Performative Grundung in Michelangelo Pistoletto Werk; Silvia Eiblemayr, Maria Pioppi im Gespraech mit Silvia Eiblemayr, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Azioni Materiali, catalogue of the exhibition, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, 11 August - 10 October 1999 [Italian, German, English]

  • Michel Tarantino, Harder than Dreaming: an Imaginary Dialogue with Michelangelo Pistoletto; Juan Antonio Ramirez, On this side of the mirror; Véronique Goudinoux, Oggetti in meno: Redefining the work; Remo Guidieri, An optical parabola aroung the work of Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, MACBA - Museu d'art Contemporani de Barcelona, 27 January - 29 March 2000

  • Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, All’inizio, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Frattali, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Cesare Manzo, Pescara, 20 September 2000

  • Angela Vettese, Dentro lo specchio, in Io sono l’altro. Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Palazzina della Società della Promotrice delle Belle Arti di Torino e Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Torino, 17 November 2000 - 8 March 2001

  • Nike Bätzner, Arte Povera. Zwischen Erinnerung und Ereignis: Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis, Verlag für moderner Kunst Nuerberg, 2000

  • Aisa Mandic, Through the door of the mirror, in Michelangelo Pistoletto - La Porta dello Specchio, catalogue of the exhibition, Umjetnicka galerija, Sarajevo, Ars Aevi Edizioni, 29 January - 15 February 2001

  • Paolo Fabbri, OIHCCEPS: il ritmo degli specchi, in Les rencontres rossiniennes 2001. Michelangelo Pistoletto. Les péches de jeunesse, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Franca Mancini, Pesaro, 12 August - 15 September 2001

  • Giuliano Serafini, Codice inverso, in Pistoletto. Codice Inverso, catalogue of the exhibition, luoghi diversi, Città di Castello, 7 April - 9 June 2001

  • Thierry Raspail, De temps à autre; Isabelle Bertolotti, Avez-vous vu passer le lapin blanc?; Michel Maffesoli, Rencontre (interview), in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Continents de temps, catalogue of the exhibition, Musée d‘Art Contemporain, Lyon, 8 March - 6 May 2001

  • Pascal Gielen, Welcome to Heterotopia, in Michelangelo Pistoletto & Cittadellarte &, catalogue of the exhibition, MuHKA-Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerpen, 4 October - 30 November 2003

  • Pierre Coulibeuf, L’espace vide; Pierre Coulibeuf, Continuité dialoguée; Bruno Di Marino, Le miroir sombre, in Pierre Coulibeuf (curated by) Pistoletto / L’Homme noir, Actes Sud, Arles, 2004

  • Anna Maria Nassisi, Réflexions sur l’infini/le non-fini de la vie et de l’art, in Vis à Vis Opalka/Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Museée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing, 19 June - 12 September 2004

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, azione-comunic-azione “allontanati più vicino”: gli ossimori dell’arte, in Michelangelo Pistoletto azione-comunic-azione, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Oredaria, Roma, 11 March - 31 May 2005 (Ed. Skirà)

  • Nicola Setari, Il motore, lo specchio e il tempo, in Pistoletto, Artestampa, Modena, 30 May 2005

  • Marco Farano, Maria Cristina Mundici, Maria Teresa Roberto, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Il varco dello specchio. Azioni e collaborazioni 1967 – 2004, Edizioni Fondazione Torino Musei, Torino, 2005

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, L’isola interiore. L’arte della sopravvivenza, testo di presentazione in occasione dell’evento speciale omonimo, 51. Biennale di Venezia, 22 June 2005, in “Progetto Arte - Journal”, n.10, ed. Fondazione Pistoletto Onlus, Biella, 2006

  • Angela Vettese, La Mensa delle Culture, in Michelangelo Pistoletto e Cittadellarte. La Mensa delle Culture, catalogue of the exhibition, Palazzo Santa Margherita, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Modena, 16 September 2005 - 8 January 2006 (Ed. Corraini)

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, Pistoletto e l’archeologia del futuro, in Eroi e Atleti. L’ideale estetico nell’arte da Olimpia a Roma a Torino, catalogue of the exhibition, Museo di Antichitŕ, Torino, 8 February - 30 Aprile 2006

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, Il Paradiso dell’Arte; Angelo Capasso, Il Terzo Paradiso al Centro dell’Infinito, in Terzo Paradiso. Michelangelo Pistoletto - Gianna Nannini, catalogue of the exhibition, NCCA - National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Mosca, 19 November - 16 December 2007

  • Claire Gilmann, Pistoletto’s Staged Subjects, in “October. Postwar Italian Art. A Special Issue”, edited by Claire Gilmann, MIT Press, Cambridge, Spring 2008

  • Chiara Bertola. L’ordine spazio temporale delle cose, in Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Venezia, 13 September - 11 October 2008

  • Pan Wendt, Social Fabric, in “Fillip”, n.7, Vancouver, Winter 2008

  • Elke Buhr, Michelangelo Pistoletto in the Mirror, in “Monopol”, n. 9, September 2009

  • Pascal Gielen, Voorbij de moderniteit. Het laatste kunstwerk van Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Claire van Damme (curated by), Look/Alike, Academia Press, Gent 2009

  • Alberto Fiz, Il DNA allo specchio; Paolo Naldini, La gener-azione di Cittadellarte, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Il DNA del Terzo Paradiso, catalogue of the exhibition, Electa Editore, MARCA, Parco Archeologico di Scolacium, Catanzaro, 24 July - 3 October 2010 (Ed. Electa)

  • Luigi Coppola, Il cammino è stato lungo. Michelangelo Pistoletto e la gente di Corniglia, Edizioni Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, 2010

  • Romy Golan, Eclissi: arte italiana negli anni sessanta, in Il confine evanescente. Arte italiana 1960-2010, curated by Gabriele Guercio and Anna Mattirolo, Electa, Milano, 2010; longer version, inEnglish: Flashbacks and Eclipses in Italian Art in the 1960s, in “Grey Room 49”, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fall 2012

  • Jean-Francois Chevrier, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Le protagoniste; Michelangelo Pistoletto. Reprise, in Jean-Francois Chevrier, Entre les beaux-arts et les médias: photographie et art moderne, L’Arachnée, Paris, 2010

  • Carlos Basualdo, Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to May, 1956-1974; Angela Vettese, From the Early Paintings to the First Reflective Surfaces; Jean-Francois Chevrier, The Minus Objects: The Dimension of Time; Claire Gilmann, Pistoletto’s Object Theater; Gabriele Guercio, The Community of the Non-All; Suzanne Penn, The Complicity of the Materials in Pistoletto’s Paintings and Mirror Paintings, in Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to May, 1956-1974, catalogue of the exhibition, -Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2 November 2010 - 16 January 2011.
    Edizione in lingua italiana pubblicata in occasione dell’allestimento della mostra al MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle arti del XXI Secolo, Roma, 3 March - 6 June 2011 (ed. Electa)

  • Erika Battle, Structures for Progress. Pistoletto’s Partecipatory Art and the Emergence of Cittadellarte, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Cittadellarte, Philadelphia Museum of Art, programme of the exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2 November 2010 - 16 January 2011

  • Jerremy Levison, Looking at Pistoletto / Looking at myself; Michael Auping, Society and surface: two interviews with Michelangelo Pistoletto; Pascal Gielen, An ethical appeal of art: media, memory and the mirror, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Mirror Painting, Hatje Cantz, Ostfidern, 2010

  • Barbara Satre, Une esthétique collaborative. Une traversée de l'oeuvre de Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Sylvie Coëllier et al., Arts, transversalités et questions politiques, Publications de l'Université de Provence, 2011

  • Massimo Melotti, Riflessioni sulle opere di Pistoletto nella collezione permanente di Cittadellarte, in Massimo Melotti, Opere di Pistoletto. Massimo Melotti a colloquio con Michelangelo Pistoletto, Allemandi, Torino, 2011.
    English edition: Massimo Melotti, Reflections on Pistoletto's Works in the Permanent Collection of Cittadellarte, in Massimo Melotti, Pistoletto: Works. Massimo Melotti Talks with Michelangelo Pistoletto, Allemandi, Torino, 2015

  • Giorgio Verzotti, Michelangelo Pistoletto come artista, in Germano Celant (curated by), Arte Povera, Electa, 2011

  • Germano Celant, The Serpentine Temple of Michelangelo Pistoletto; Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Interview with Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Mirror of Judgement, catalogue of the exhibition, Serpentine Gallery, London, 12 July - 17 September 2011

  • Arianna Testino, Michelangelo Pistoletto. L’unione di vita, parole e opera, Damocle Edizioni, Venezia, 2012

  • Lóránd Hegyi, A Mirror Sonata for Korea. Singularity and the Metaphorical Dimension in the Oeuvre of Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Partitura in nero, catalogue of the exhibition, Gallery 604, Busan, 23 May - 30 June 2012

  • Giovanna della Chiesa, Il Plagio di Vettor Pisani e Michelangelo Pistoletto interpretato. Il passaggio da Venere a Meret, da Meret a Maria, in “Arte e critica”, anno XIX, n. 71, Roma, June - August 2012

  • Achille Bonito Oliva (curated by), Michelangelo Pistoletto. Il Terzo Paradiso, Mondadori Electa, 2012

  • Robert Lumley, Michelangelo Pistoletto: Stepping sideways, changing direction, in Pistoletto politico, catalogue of the exhibition, Luxembourg & Dayan, London, 12 February - 12 April 2013

  • Henri Loyrette, Avant-propos; Bernard Blistène, Recomposer le monde; Marie-Laure Bernadac, Miroir du Louvre, miroir du monde (interview with Michelangelo Pistoletto); Marcella Lista, Entre les choses: l’objet, la performance et l’espace du réel; Paolo Naldini, De la société du spectacle à la démopraxie; Nicola Setari, Rebirth-day, festival de la transformation responsable, in Michelangelo Pistoletto – Année 1, le Paradis sur Terre, catalogue of the exhibition, Paris, Louvre, 25 April - 2 September 2013 (ed. Actes Sud / Louvre Editions)

  • Francesca Pola, Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Unexpected Image, Robilant + Voena, London, 2013

  • Anthony George White, Michelangelo Pistoletto's Minus Objects in Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Minus Object 1965 – 1966, catalogue of the exhibition, New York, Luhring Augustine Bushwick, 18 December 2013 - 3 May 2014

  • Gregory Buchajkian, Une Venus et un tas de chiffons, in Michelangelo Pistoletto in Beirut, catalogue of the exhibition, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, 11 November 2014 - 11 January 2015

  • Manuela Gandini, La segnaletica dell'anima. Cronache dello specchio. L'artista plurale. Per un'economia spirituale, in Michelangelo Pistoletto e Cittadellarte, catalogue of the exhibition, Castello di Gallipoli, Gallipoli, 5 June - 25 September 2015

  • Carlo Falciani, Michelangelo and Dante, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Before the Mirror, catalogue of the exhibition, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, 2 May - 5 September 2015

  • Philippe Cardinal, Le signe du troisième paradis sur le clocher de la chapelle du Méjan, invitation, Actes Sud, 6 July 2015

  • Lorand Hegyi, Singularity and the metaphorical dimension in the ouvre of Michelangelo Pistoletto, in Lorand Hegyi, Roman Opalka's Essentiality 1965/1 ∞, Nino Aragno Editore, Torino 2015

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, La parola socratica dell'arte: Il Terzo Paradiso / The Socratic Word of Art: The Third Paradise, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. Ritratti al Tavolo del Terzo Paradiso, catalogue of the exhibition, Roma, Mucciaccia Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 5 November 2015 - 7 January 2016

  • Achille Bonito Oliva, Progettare il passato; Marcello Barbanera, Achille Bonito Oliva, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Conversazioni su La Mela Reintegrata, in Michelangelo Pistoletto. La Mela Reintegrata, Roma, Terme di Caracalla, 23 May - 23 June 2016

  • Germano Celant, The Continuos Present: Michelangelo Pistoletto; Nicholas Cullinan, Past Imperfect: Michelangelo Pistoletto's Anti-Monuments; Michael Fram, In conversation (interview with Michelangelo Pistoletto) in Michelangelo Pistoletto at Blenheim Palace, catalogue of the exhibition, Woodstock, Blenheim Palace, 14 September – 31 December 2016

  • Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, Michelangelo Pistoletto: Immagini in più, oggetti in meno, un paradiso ancora; Simone Ciglia, Anna Zanga, Ann Cristin Tan, Arte; Alessandro Facente, Alessandra Rizzi, Almir San Martin, Democrazia; Sara Fumagalli, Daniela Di Gennaro, Anita Gazner, Differenza; Giuseppe e Vincenzo de Bellis, Irina Marieni Saredo, Anahì Gendler, Doppio; Valentina Gervasoni, Alessandra Beltrami, Jovica Momcilovic, Identità; Stefano Raimondi, Riuta Ceresoli, Junko Nishimori, Infinito; Barbara Casavecchia, Daniela Mancia, Alzira Da Costa Baia, Responsabilità; Alessandro Rabottini, Sabrina Tomasoni, Bijliana Dizdarevic, Solidarietà; Pierluigi Sacco, Manuela Bandini, Julio Alterach, Sostenibilità; Angela Fabrizi Previtali, Clara Luiselli, Maida Ziarati, Spiritualità; in Michelangelo Pistoletto: Immagini in più, oggetti in meno, un paradiso ancora, catalogue of the exhibition, Bergamo, GAMeC, 7 October 2016 - 8 January 2017

  • Jorge Fernández, Michelangelo Pistoletto. Más álla de la historia; Niurka Fanego, Viaje in situ. Pistoletto en el Museo National de Bellas Artes de Cuba, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, La Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, 25 November 2016 - 13 March 2017

  • Marin R. Sullivan, With time action. Michelangelo Pistoletto in Turin, in Sculptural Materiality in the Age of Conceptualism. International Experiments in Italy, Routledge, New York 2017

  • Maria Konomi, Venus of the Rags. In Transit. 2014 Eleusis. Site-specific relocations and critical responses; Manuela Gandini, Rags and deitis, back at Eleusis, in Mary Zygouri, Venus of the Rags. In Transit. 2014 Elefsis, 2017

  • Sally Bonn, Les mots et les oeuvres. Des artistes écrivent (Daniel Buren, Robert Morris, Michelangelo Pistoletto), Editions du Seuil, Paris, 2017

  • Bianca Pedace, Il problema Pistoletto, in Bianca Pedace, Interrelazioni tra l'arte italiana e gli Stati Uniti (1963-1971), Rubbettino Editore, 2018

  • Giovanni Iovana, Michelangelo Pistoletto, From the Mirror to the Third Paradise Roundtrip...; Andrea Nanetti, The Third Paradise at NYU Singapore; Paolo Naldini, Notes for a Possible Investigation, in The Third Paradise. Between Obverse and Reverse, catalogue of the exhibition, Singapore, Partners & Muciaccia, 21 January - 10 February 2019

  • Alberto Fiz, Ettore and Michelangelo. Accomplices; Ferruccio De Bortoli, Father and Son; Paolo Naldini, Myths and Rites for a School of Parents and Children, in Padre e figlio. Ettore Pistoletto Olivero. Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Biella, Palazzo Gromo Losa, 17 April - 13 October 2019

  • Marco Farano, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Creative Collaboration, in Entrare nell'opera. Processes and Performative Attitudes in Arte Povera, catalogue of the exhibition, Vaduz, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, 7 June - 1 September 2019

  • Marie-Christine von Liebe, Zum Spiegel im Werk von Michelangelo Pistoletto: Von der Spiegelgalerie des Barock zum Spiegel, in der Galerie, Twentysix Verlag, 2020

  • Marco Farano, Chronology, in Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Lévi Gorvy, New York, 14 October 2020 - 27 February 2021

  • Fortunato D’Amico (curated by), Michelangelo Pistoletto. The Preventive Peace, self published, 2021

  • Silvia Evangelisti, Gregorio XII e Michelangelo Pistoletto dal Rinascimento alla Rinascita, in Gregorio XII e Michelangelo Pistoletto dal Rinascimento alla Rinascita, catalogue of the exhibition, Bologna, Palazzo Boncompagni, 7 May - 18 September 2021

  • Alberto Fiz, L’arte al centro della trasformazione; Paolo Naldini, Dalla società degli automi alla società degli autori, in La Verità di Michelangelo Pistoletto. Dallo Specchio al Terzo Paradiso, catalogue of the exhibition, Ascona, Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna, 30 May - 26 September 2021

  • Romy Golan, Inside/Outside: Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Mirror Painting, in Romy Golan, Flashback, Eclipse: The Political Imaginary of Italian Art in the 1960s, Zone Books, 2021

  • Vincenzo de Bellis, Oltre la soglia: appunti e spunti sui recenti Quadri specchianti di Michelangelo Pistoletto / Beyond the Threshold: Notes and Comments on Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Recent Mirror Paintings, in Quaderno Stein 05. Michelangelo Pistoletto, catalogue of the exhibition, Milano, Galleria Christian Stein, 6 October 2021 - 8 January 2022

  • Monica Preti, 5 passi tra creazione e memoria; Annamaria Iacuzzi, Percorso storico 1980-1996, in Pistoletto Pistoia. Costellazione: 5 passi tra creazione e memoria, catalogue of the exhibition, Pistoia, various venues, Editore Gli Ori, Pistoia, 25 June - 25 September 2022

download the list of the main critical essays on Michelangelo Pistoletto in PDF format
 MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
Critical essays on the artist