Scorza di terra

Since the 1960s, Arte Povera pioneer Giuseppe Penone has challenged the boundaries between nature and the human body primarily through sculpture, though he’s also created performances, installations, photographs, and works on paper. Penone’s work has focused on the primacy of the senses, involuntary processes such as respiration and growth, and the commonalities between corporeal and natural forms. In Soffi (Breath) (1977–present), for example, Penone photographs himself blowing powder and transforms the spontaneous shapes into sculptures and drawings. He has also made sculptures in the shape of trees from materials including bronze and wood. Penone’s work has achieved seven figures at auction and belongs in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Tate.