Impronte, 1960
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Impronte, 1960” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
This suite of three lithographs is a reinterpretation of graphic work originally conceived and produced by Italian avant-garde artist Piero Manzoni (1933–1963), an early proponent of Arte Povera (Poor art), a radical movement that advocated the upending of the dominant formal and ideological conventions and disruption of the art market’s growing corporate mentality. Bidlo’s project was inspired directly by Manzoni’s photolithographic portfolio 8 Works of Verification (8 Tavole di accertamento) of 1962. In this landmark publication, Manzoni presented eight ways to identify oneself, a conceptual consideration on the notion of personal and artistic identity. Three of the photolithographs featured images of Manzoni’s fingerprints and enlarged single thumbprints, an indexical trace of the human body and unmistakable signifier of personal identity.
Read on
The photolithographs function as portraits of the subject (Manzoni). In his re-creation, Bidlo adds a twist, using images his own fingerprints and thumbprints, thus contradicting his usual practice of creating exact replicas of originals. In this instance, Bidlo borrows the concept and format of the original, but makes the works his own by introducing another layer of inquiry regarding notions of originality and artistic identity. Is the subject of the work Manzoni? Or Bidlo?
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2016.60.1
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Mike Bidlo
