Born in Italy, a resident of New York for 25 years, 46-year-old Cristiano Cairati moved to Honolulu earlier this year to open the Ravizza Brownfield Gallery in Chinatown with an exhibit of works by Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Pistoletto is a leader of Italy’s Arte Povera (“poor art”) movement, and the centerpiece of the exhibit, “Senza titolo (Metamorfosi),” consists of two meticulously assembled piles of cloth — one white, the other brightly colored — divided by large mirrors.

Look at it edge-on and you see the two piles of cloth. Stand on either side and you see only one, but your reflection becomes part of the viewing experience.

JOHN BERGER: How do people respond to “Senza titolo (Metamorfosi),” and what do they say when they learn that it is priced at $550,000?

CRISTIANO CAIRATI: Some people are fascinated. Some people wonder if it was made by a local artist. Some people recognize the artist. Some people get upset because they could have done it but he beat them to it, or they ask how it could cost so much for “a pile of rags.”

JB: So it looks like random piles of cloth, but it actually isn’t random?

CC: It isn’t random. Pistoletto is very precise on what he wants and how he wants it. Anybody could do it but he did it. That’s the point of art. He did it first. If a new artist did something like that now, everybody would say, “Pistoletto did that 40 years ago.”

JB: What inspired you and your partners to open a gallery in Honolulu?

CC: I noticed that everything was changing — the food industry, tourism, real estate — and I thought we needed to have a gallery here. Then I read that the Honolulu Biennial was going to start this year, and it seemed like a good time. We opened the gallery two days before the start of the Biennial, and things have been going well.

JB: The Pistoletto exhibit closes at the end of May. What’s next?

CC: Pistoletto is creating some art for Hawaii, but he is 83 so he’s taking his time. We will have art made for Hawaii by other artists, and prices are going to be affordable for more people.

JB: What would be the biggest surprise for people who meet you at the gallery?

CC: Maybe my tattoos. The reason I got attracted to Hawaii was for tapping (a traditional method of Polynesian tattooing). My tattoos are done traditionally by kahuna ka uhi Keone Nunes and Keli‘iokalani Makua. The first time I came to Hawaii, it was to look for them.

“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.