22 St. Peter's Church

print, silkscreen on polished stainless steel, 230 ✗ 125 ✗ 2 cm.

The Mirror Paintings constitute the foundation of Pistoletto's work, encompassing both his subsequent artistic research and production, as well as his theoretical reflections, to which he constantly returns to deepen their significance and develop their implications. The essential characteristics of the Mirror Paintings, identified by the artist himself, are primarily: the dimension of time, not only represented but actively engaged; the inclusion in the artwork of the spectator and their environment, making it "the self-portrait of the world"; the conjunction of opposing polarities (static/dynamic, surface/depth, absolute/relative, etc.) constituted and activated by the interaction between photography and what happens in the virtual space generated by the mirror surface; no longer being an illusory window open to the world, as in the conception of the frame that emerged with the Renaissance perspective and concluded with the historical avant-gardes of the 20th century. Unlike this forward-facing perspective, the Mirror Painting now offers a dual perspective turned both towards us and behind us, constituting a passage through which the environment in which it is exhibited extends into the virtual space of the artwork, a door that communicates art and life.