Porte Uffizi

Porte Uffizi (conceived 1995 / fabricated 2020) is an architectural structure forming chambers dedicated to categories of culture—for example, spirituality, economy, politics, religion, and art. “Uffizi” references the offices of the Medici family, where the powerful bankers of Florence consolidated their cultural and political capital through military and financial maneuvering, while also commissioning and supporting humanistic accomplishments in art, architecture, literature, and philosophy. Within each room of Porte Uffizi, Pistoletto installed one of his works that exemplifies its theme.

In this iteration of Porte Uffizi, the artist incorporates portals in the shape of the Segno Arte, a humanistic symbol based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (c. 1490). Pistoletto has said: “Normally, tradition imposes one sign for all—a religious sign, a political sign, an advertising sign, the sign of a product. Signs invade the world, but only artists have created personal signs. Now it is time for others, too, to take responsibility for themselves. . . . Everyone having a sign of their own has the key to the door of art, a door that leads to a reserved, intimate, personal space as well as to the space of social meetings.”

The rooms of Porte Uffizi ask us to contemplate our own responsibilities to our immediate communities, the environment, and the world, and to find ways for art and creativity to reach into other realms of society to effect positive change. This change is in accord with Pistoletto’s abiding commitment to humanist principles; at Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, a converted wool mill in Biella, Italy, he has started initiatives such as the Visible project and Third Paradise that are aimed at missions of sustainability and community building.

MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
Porte Uffizi
Conceived 1995 / fabricated 2020
Black paint and wood
110 1/4 x 503 1/4 x 263 inches (280 x 1278.3 x 668 cm)