Standing Man, Standing Woman with Hat
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Object Label
There is something magical about a reflection in a mirror. It seems to be an accurate record of what it represents, but it is reversed left to right and is subject to manipulation and distortion. Michelangelo Pistoletto plays with the idea of reflection and the merging of art and everyday life in this work.
Figures are silkscreened on a piece of reflective stainless steel, creating permanent content for the piece. But as viewers pass in front of it, temporary inhabitants of the space—you—also appear and disappear.
Caption
Michelangelo Pistoletto Italian, born 1933. Standing Man, Standing Woman with Hat, 1980. Silkscreen on stainless steel, each panel: 90 5/8 x 49 1/4 in. (230.2 x 125.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Miriam Katowitz and Arthur Radin, 1995.198a-b. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1995.198a.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Standing Man, Standing Woman with Hat
Date
1980
Medium
Silkscreen on stainless steel
Classification
Dimensions
each panel: 90 5/8 x 49 1/4 in. (230.2 x 125.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Miriam Katowitz and Arthur Radin
Accession Number
1995.198a-b
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
- Do you have any information regarding the people depicted in this work?
No, we do not know exactly who the people depicted in this piece are, but this is part of the content of the work--that the people portrayed are anonymous (with their backs to us, wearing unassuming clothing). In passing in front of the work and/or contemplating it, we become part of it. It is part performance, part painting!What is this about?
This artist has made a whole series of works on mirrors. I see you took that shot without your own reflection -- but did you see yourself in it when you first walked up to the work?Yes I did. I was mostly trying to understand why the Atwood people on the mirror were looking "away from" me. Or perhaps it is that they are actually looking back at me through the reflection?The artist is playing with the boundaries between a work if art and the person looking at it. We can't help becoming part of this work when we look directly at it.Regarding your question, we could probably interpret it either way. Either we and they are part of the same audience -- or -- maybe they are facing inward so that they can look at you.
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