Giuseppe Penone
Thoughts in the Roots
03 Apr - 07 Sep 2025
Giuseppe Penone, Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone), 2010 - 2024. Bronze and river stones. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree), 2012. Bronze and gold. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree), 2012. Bronze and gold. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Alberi libro (Book Trees), 2017 and Respirare l’ombra (To Breathe the Shadow), 2000, installation view, Serpentine South. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Alberi libro (Book Trees), 2017. White fir wood, cedar wood, and larch wood. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Respirare l’ombra (To Breathe the Shadow), 2000. Metal grids, laurel leaves, and bronze. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Respirare l’ombra (To Breathe the Shadow), 2000. Metal grids, laurel leaves, and bronze. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, A occhi chiusi (With Eyes Closed), 2009. Acrylic, glass microspheres, acacia thorns on canvas, and white Carrara marble. Photo © Archivio Penone. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone.
Giuseppe Penone, Sguardo vegetale (Vegetal Gaze), 1995. Photo ceramic. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
Giuseppe Penone, Verde del bosco (Forest Green), 1986 and Verde del bosco – estate 2017 (Forest Green – Summer 2017), 2017, installation view, Serpentine South. ©Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine.
With a career spanning over five decades, Giuseppe Penone (b. 1947 Garessio, Italy) has created an expansive body of work that encompasses sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, and photography. Born in a village near Cuneo, Italy, his practice is deeply influenced by the forested landscapes of Northern Italy, shaping his lifelong exploration of the relationship between humans and nature.
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.
Reflecting on the exhibition, Giuseppe Penone states: ‘‘All of my work is a trial to express my adherence and belonging to nature, and it is with this thought that I have chosen the works for the exhibition. The two paths that I have created—inside the gallery and outside of it, in the park—become two integrated gardens.’’
Thoughts in the Roots is curated by Claude Adjil, Curator at Large; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director with Alexa Chow, Assistant Exhibitions Curator.
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.
Reflecting on the exhibition, Giuseppe Penone states: ‘‘All of my work is a trial to express my adherence and belonging to nature, and it is with this thought that I have chosen the works for the exhibition. The two paths that I have created—inside the gallery and outside of it, in the park—become two integrated gardens.’’
Thoughts in the Roots is curated by Claude Adjil, Curator at Large; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director with Alexa Chow, Assistant Exhibitions Curator.