ART CITIES: Paris-Giuseppe Penone

Throughout his fifty-year career, Giuseppe Penone has employed a wide range of materials and forms in an exploration of the fundamental language of sculpture. A protagonist of Arte Povera, Penone explores respiration, growth, and aging—among other involuntary processes—to create an expansive body of work including sculpture, performance, works on paper, and photography.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Marian Goodman Gallery Archive

Giuseppe Penone was born in Garessio, Italy in 1947. Long related to developments in sculpture in the 60s and 70s, and to Arte Povera, Penone’s work retains its own distinctive character incorporating binary meanings related to the natural world and the notion of living sculpture.  Penone’s interest in the space between the hand and the touched surface that becomes sculpture and drawing, between imprint and sight, gesture and action, has been sustained throughout his body of work. Giuseppe Penone’s solo exhibition “envelopper la Terre” marks the debut of “Avvolgere la terra” (2024), a new limited edition produced in collaboration with Marian Goodman Gallery, this editioned work revisits the activities of Multiples, Inc, a pioneering art publishing company founded by Marian Goodman in the 1960s. “Avvolgere la terra”, consisting of 17 sculptures in terracotta with ochre and yellow pigments, refers in name to a primordial gesture, underscoring the intricate relationship between nature and humanity. The edition is displayed with a selection of works on paper with the same title dating from 2010 and 2015, as well as in dialogue with “Pressione” (1977) a rarely seen large-scale immersive charcoal wall drawing which has been specially reproduced for this occasion. For “Avvolgere la terra” (2024), Penone applies his tactile approach to the materials, revisiting the process of “fossilizing a gesture.” Holding terracotta fragments between his hands, a group of unique sculptures emerge from the raw material, imprinted with the surface of his skin, the contours of his palm and fingers. As Francesco Guzzetti states, “it is from the negative of his hand, and the embrace of the closed fist that the material takes shape.” The soft, rounded forms crystallize through the compression of materials, enhanced by a vibrant palette of ocre and yellow pigments. In this manner, Penone highlights the tangible nature of the earth, cradling it in his hands to evoke a sense of touch and to underscore his relationship with the natural world. As each handful of earth is different, each of the 17 editions is unique. The immersive wall drawing, “Pressione” (1977) occupies the entire exhibition space, tracing the impression of skin in charcoal from a wall projection, and echoing the theme of the import of human imprints and fossilized gestures. Penone first publicly produced this work for his seminal solo show at the Kunstmuseum Luzern in 1977. Accompanying the wall installation and the terracotta edition and presented on the surrounding walls are two sets of drawings, each titled “Avvolgere la terra”. One set is created from pigment, graphite and adhesive tape on paper (2010) and the second from typographic ink and acrylic (2015); highlighting the sculpture’s original form: a “handful of clay”.

Photo: Front: Giuseppe Penone. Avvolgere la terra, 2024, Terracotta, pigment, 7 7/8 x 4 x 4 in. (20 x 10 x 10 cm), Edition of 17 plus 3 artist’s proofs, © Giuseppe Penone, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Marian Goodman. Back: Giuseppe Penone, Pressione, 1977-2024, Charcoal on wall, Dimensions variable, © Giuseppe Penone, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Marian Goodman

Info: Galerie Marian Goodman, 66 rue du Temple, Paris, France, Duration: 16/10-21/12/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, www.mariangoodman.com/