Solo exhibition
Giuseppe Penone. Universal Gestures
March 14 – May 28, 2023
Galleria Borghese, Rome
Gesti universali (Universal Gestures) is the exhibition curated by Francesco Stocchi shown at the Galleria Borghese, where the relationship between art and nature that marks Francesca Cappelletti's direction and the poetics of Giuseppe Penone, creates an itinerary consisting of more than thirty works. In four rooms of the Gallery and in the gardens, Penone investigates the relationship between man and the surrounding matter, integrating the mineral world of statues from the collection with the organic and olfactory world of Respirare l’ombra [To Breath the Shadow] and Soffio di foglie [Breath of Leaves], the tactile sensitivity of Bernini with Pelle di cedro [Skin of Cedar] and Pelle di marmo e spine d’acacia [Marble Skin and Acacia Thorns]. Other series, including Alberi scortecciati [Debarked Trees] and Gesti vegetali [Vegetal Gestures] represent great themes of Giuseppe Penone’s practice: the questioning on sculpture and on the artist’s gesture, the relationship between time of nature and historical time as well as the dialogue, already present in ancient statuary and Baroque, between landscape, sculpture and nature.