Guiseppe Penone
Giuseppe Penone is one of the most important representatives of Arte Povera, a movement initiated in Turin in 1967. Its artists invented new forms of sculpture using natural and everyday materials and simple methods.
Originally from an ancient village in Liguria, Penone has been deeply influenced by the natural environment of northern Italy, shaped by man over the centuries. In the 1970s his work took a poetic approach to nature, leading to a consideration of man and his power over the environment and, by extension, the world. The breath, skin, nails, fingerprints and the growth rings of trees are models for this research that fuses the individual and the universal, in which the tree, as man's alter-ego, is one of the main motifs. Made from classical materials (bronze, marble) or natural elements (thorns, stones, water) his works offer a global experience encompassing thought, sight, touch and smell.
