Giuseppe
Penone
Giuseppe
Penone
Penone
Italian, born in 1947
Giuseppe Penone has been creating since the late 1960s a remarkably vigorous oeuvre whose main themes are the body, natural phenomena, and the creative gesture. A sculptor and the author of numerous theoretical writings, he is a leading figure of the Italian Arte Povera movement, which challenged the cultural industry.
Deeply influenced by the landscapes of his native region of northern Italy, Penone developed a poetic approach to nature, in particular trees, which are a leitmotiv in his oeuvre. He uses a wide array of materials for his sculptures, some traditional such as bronze and marble, and others from the vegetal world. Contrary to Land Art artists who depict nature in all its monumentality, Penone creates human-scale installations that foster a sensitive dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. “The language of art is still and will always be based on the senses,” he said in Breathing the Shadow (2000).
The Giuseppe Penone artworks held in the Pinault Collection were first presented in 2006 at the Where Are We Going? exhibition at Palazzo Grassi, in Venice.
Deeply influenced by the landscapes of his native region of northern Italy, Penone developed a poetic approach to nature, in particular trees, which are a leitmotiv in his oeuvre. He uses a wide array of materials for his sculptures, some traditional such as bronze and marble, and others from the vegetal world. Contrary to Land Art artists who depict nature in all its monumentality, Penone creates human-scale installations that foster a sensitive dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. “The language of art is still and will always be based on the senses,” he said in Breathing the Shadow (2000).
The Giuseppe Penone artworks held in the Pinault Collection were first presented in 2006 at the Where Are We Going? exhibition at Palazzo Grassi, in Venice.
