[Audio Guide]
In this work, a pure white sculpture of a nude Venus is positioned facing a mound of piled-up rags. This unexpected combination of cloth scraps and a Venus creates a unique three-dimensional work. Consider this juxtaposition for a moment. The plaster replica of a classical Venus sculpture is symbolic of memory and stability, and an eternal beauty standing against the flow of time. In contrast, the mountain of rags represents the ephemerality of daily life as an image of endless change. From this juxtaposition we can see how complete opposites of past and future, stasis and movement, constancy and whim, permanence and decay, are brought into confrontation with one another. Venus of Rags is one of the representative works of Pistoletto, a leader of the Arte Povera (“poor art”) movement. From the late 1960s, members of this international artistic movement used materials from daily life to produce their artworks.
