Authors:
Scott Minneman, Renato Verdugo
Featured Artist: Giuseppe Penone
Curators: Scott Minneman and Renato Verdugo
The adjective mind-blowing is often used as clickbait for banal observations, but it aptly applies to Italian artist Giuseppe Penone's perspective-altering Alberi (Trees) sculptures. Since 1969, Penone has been carving mature trees and large heartwood timbers to reveal their inner saplings. Not the sculptor's conception of a younger tree, mind you—Penone meticulously follows the tree's growth rings as he removes material, so the sculpted form is the younger tree, captured and preserved by years of subsequent growth. It's slow and careful work; the large trunk he's working on in the process photo required years to complete. The resulting sculptures are both stunningly beautiful and, well, mind-blowing. Art that reframes perception so directly is rare, but after experiencing Penone's Alberi, it's impossible to see trees in quite the same way!
Authors
Born in 1947 in Garessio, Italy, Giuseppe Penone is a prominent artist associated with the Arte Povera movement. Penone probes the relationship between humans and the natural world, exploring considerable conceptual ground and a wide range of materials. Other influential works include Idee di Pietra (Ideas of Stone) and Spazio di Luce (Space of Light).
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