UK's Blenheim Art Foundation, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, is presenting Michelangelo Pistoletto at Blenheim Palace, a solo exhibition running through December 31, 2016, celebrating the extensive oeuvre of Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.

A founding father of Italian Arte Povera, Pistoletto is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation.

The historic palace features highlights of Pistoletto’s prolific fitty-year career, exhibiting painting, sculpture, and new, site-specific installations within the palace and the surrounding grounds. The show also introduces visitors to the themes which have underpinned his work across the decades.

Pistoletto gives us a playful crash-course in Italian history, referencing the Renaissance and Fascism in turn. Classical Antiquity collides with post-war consumerism in his Venus on the Rags, which sees the Classical goddess leaning against a large pile of waste material from textile factories. This work, an iconic piece from the Arte Povera period of 1960s-70s Italy, exemplifies Pistoletto’s anti-establishment use of cheap and unconventional materials to make high art; a provocative move which started an artistic revolution.

Michael Frahm, Director of the Blenheim Art Foundation, said: "Pistoletto’s extensive and powerful career has been a major influence on contemporary art and modern thought. He is a counter-cultural figure who questions society and explores philosophy through a body of work which is witty, poetic and always unexpected."

An exhibition catalgoue will soon be available through the Blenheim Palace shop.

This is the third exhibition of contemporary art hosted at the historic palace, following the success of Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace in 2014 and Lawrence Weiner: Within a Realm of Distance in 2015. With this show, the Foundation continues to introduce world-class contemporary artists to new audiences within one of England’s most treasured landmarks.