Giuseppe Penone - Sculpture
One of the leading protagonists of Italian art
With Giuseppe Penone. Sculpture, the Mart is dedicating a major exhibition to Giuseppe Penone, one of the leading protagonists on the international scene: Giuseppe Penone (Garessio - CN, 1947).
An exponent of Arte Povera, over the years Penone has developed an independent language that redefines the very parameters of sculpture. The whole exhibition at the Mart di Rovereto will focus on this practice. From 19 March to 26 June 2016, over sixty works will cover one of the principle moments in the artist’s work, with particular attention to the most recent production.
The exhibition is part of a broader institutional plan in which temporary exhibitions and the recent re-hanging of the museum collections fit in together, tracing a line that enables the visitor to explore the development of art in Italy through two centuries of history, from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present day.
In particular, the works of Penone at the Mart mark the museum territory. From the entrance into the museum, with a monumental installation inserted in the Mart’s stairwell, architecture and sculpture are intertwined, exalting the characteristics of both: the expressiveness of the space and that of the sculpted material, the experience of light and that of volume. The Spazio di luce sculpture climbs along the walls of the atrium, into the great void that opens in the stairwell, the architectural heart and virtual hub of the exhibition spaces.
The bronze and gold tree is installed vertically, anchored to the sides of the stairs, producing an abyss of light that seems to break through the roof of the Mart. “Looking at its interior, our eyes follow the space of light occupied by the tree and becomes tree,” explains the artist.