Arte Povera and Pop Art meet in Biella, bringing into dialogue two central figures of twentieth-century art such as Michelangelo Pistoletto and Andy Warhol. The partnership between the exhibition Andy Warhol. Pop Art & Textiles, on view at Palazzo Gromo Losa and Palazzo Ferrero until April 6, and the Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte strengthens the city’s cultural ecosystem and builds a shared pathway among Biella’s leading cultural institutions. This collaboration is set to culminate in a public talk dedicated to the theme, scheduled for the coming months.
The partnership also includes reciprocal benefits: holders of a Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte ticket are entitled to a reduced admission fee (€10) for the Andy Warhol. Pop Art & Textiles exhibition, while visitors to the Warhol exhibition can access the Pistoletto Foundation at a special rate of €8.

The organizations involved
This initiative is one of the many accompanying events surrounding the exhibition Andy Warhol. Pop Art & Textiles, organized by Palazzo Gromo Losa Srl - an instrumental company of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella - and by Creation, in collaboration with the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Around the exhibition unfolds a rich program of collateral events that transforms the Piazzo Cultural Hub, the historic city center, and its cultural venues into a widespread “factory” of creativity, music, images, and new forms of participation.
An exceptionally dense program made possible thanks to the Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte, CoopCulture, Accademia Perosi, TAM (Textile Academy Museum), Associazione Stilelibero, and collaborations with Associazione Fatti ad Arte, Biella Jazz Club, Associazione Tacafile, Associazione Microsolchi, Caffè Deiro, Fotoclub, and UPB (Università Popolare Biellese) Educa, together contributing to transform Biella into a deeply pop city.

The exhibition
At Palazzo Gromo Losa and Palazzo Ferrero, the exhibition brings together more than 150 works by Andy Warhol -screen prints, photographs, ceramics, vinyl records, and archival materials - alongside an extraordinary core of around fifty textiles, garments, and original drawings created by the artist in the 1950s. This little-known chapter, presented in Italy for the first time, features lemons, butterflies, clowns, watermelons, and ice cream cones, transforming fabric into a visual laboratory that anticipates the codes of future Pop Art.
The two venues converse as a single narrative: on one side, the youthful and commercial imagination of early Warhol; on the other, his evolution toward the iconic language that would redefine art in the latter half of the twentieth century.

The voice of the President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella
“The dialogue between Pop Art and Arte Povera,” states Michele Colombo, President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella, “represents an opportunity for cultural reflection of great value for our territory. Figures such as Andy Warhol and Michelangelo Pistoletto, though profoundly different in language and vision, share the ability to critically reinterpret contemporary society through sign, material, and artistic gesture. In a city like Biella, where textiles are both a material and an imaginative heritage - now also recognized by UNESCO - initiatives like this reinforce the idea that art is not only aesthetic expression, but also a tool for thought, relationship, and development. As a Foundation, we continue to believe in the value of culture as a civic infrastructure and a concrete opportunity for growth for the entire community.”

Words from the Director of Cittadellarte
“With culture, you eat,” emphasized Paolo Naldini, Director of the Pistoletto Foundation, “without culture, you get eaten. Many territories, districts, cities, and civilizations prove this principle. For this very reason, the mission of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio converges with that of Cittadellarte toward a territory and a community capable of producing interconnected economy and culture. This is Italy’s hallmark, which for centuries has offered the rest of Europe and the world a fusion of know-how and know-how-to-live. In Biella, we are pursuing this path: a twenty-first-century Renaissance founded on art, production, participation, and sustainability. Collaborations like this one add to the dense network of cooperation that the city and the Biella area have built and cultivated over the years. It may well be the most valuable asset to invest in for a prosperous, inclusive, fair, and sustainable future.”