Claude Adjil, Curator at Large, leads a tour of Giuseppe Penone: Thoughts in the Roots.
Thoughts in the Roots brings together works from 1969 to the present, illustrating Penone’s enduring fascination with the interplay between organic and artistic processes. A leading figure in the Arte Povera—an influential movement that emerged in Italy in the 1960s, celebrating the simplicity of natural materials and artistic techniques—Penone experiments with a wide range of materials including wood, iron, wax, bronze, terracotta, marble, and plaster, bringing their individual physical qualities to the fore.
The exhibition embodies the key principles of Penone’s work, namely the synergy between artistic and natural process, and the poetic relationship between humans and the environment. Through a series of sculptures and installations, visitors will encounter the delicate yet powerful ways in which Penone reveals nature’s hidden structures, rhythms, and gestures.
BSL interpretation is available on request for all our Saturday Talks. Please get in touch at [email protected] if you would like to request this.
Artist Bio
Giuseppe Penone (b. 1947 lives and works in Turin, Italy) has been featured in solo exhibitions worldwide including at the Fondazione Ferrero, Alba (2024); at the Galleria Borghese, Rome (2023); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2004, 2022); Philadelphia Museum of Art (2022); Villa Medici, Rome (2021); Palais d’léna – CESE, Paris (2019); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2018); Chateau La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte–Réparade (2017); Palazzo della Civiltà, Rome (2017); Louvre Abu Dhabi (2017); MART, Rovereto (2016); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (2016); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2015); Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (2015); the Beirut Art Center (2014); the Musée de Grenoble (2014); the Château de Versailles (2013); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2013); Madison Square Park, New York (2013) and Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013). Giuseppe Penone has exhibited at Documenta V (1972), VII (1982), VIII (1987) and XIII (2012) and at the Venice Biennale in 1978, 1980, 1986, 1995 and 2007.
