Gemelle (Mirror Triptych), 1998

This edition by Michelangelo Pistoletto is a profound meditation on identity, perception, and presence. The work consists of three silkscreen-printed acrylic glass mirrors arranged in a triptych. On the left and right panels, we see two nearly identical portraits – photographic images of Pistoletto’s twin daughters – each shown in profile, facing inward. The central panel is blank except for a single small dot, precisely positioned at the convergence of the twins’ gazes. This dot becomes both a point of visual convergence and the anchor for the viewer's own reflection. Standing before the triptych, the viewer is drawn to this mark, involuntarily positioning themselves in the space between the twins – completing the composition as the third portrait. In this way, Pistoletto dissolves the boundary between artwork and audience, transforming the act of looking into a mirrored exchange. As in his iconic Mirror Paintings, Pistoletto uses reflection not only as a formal device but as a philosophical proposition: to see oneself is to be seen; to encounter an image is to inhabit a space of relational meaning. Gemelle (Italian for "twin sisters") quietly invites us to contemplate individuality, symmetry, and the self as defined through the presence of others.
This work is part of the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.