News / Giuseppe Penone / Events

February 9–March 23, 2024
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
desertx.org

Giuseppe Penone’s sculpture La logica del vegetale – Metamorfosi (Vegetal Logic – Metamorphosis) (2024) is installed in an ancient desert canyon in the Arabian Peninsula as part of Desert X AlUla 2024. The 17-meter-tall (almost 56-foot-tall) cast bronze chestnut tree lies on its side with gnarled roots exposed, surrounded by pieces of fossilized trees, revealing the interdependence between sculpture and nature across geological time. This is the third edition of Desert X AlUla, a collaboration between Desert X and the Royal Commission for AlUla established to advance new cultural dialogue through art. Curated by Maya El Khalil and Marcello Dantas, the selection of works explores the theme “In the Presence of Absence” and asks the question “What cannot be seen?”

Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 6:30pm
Gagosian, 4 rue de Ponthieu, Paris

Please join Gagosian for a conversation between Giuseppe Penone and architect Hala Wardé inside Impronte di luce / Empreintes de lumière, an exhibition of new paintings by the artist inspired by his experience of Le Corbusier’s Couvent Sainte-Marie de La Tourette in Éveux, France. The longtime friends will discuss Penone’s latest body of work and their most recent collaboration for Louvre Abu Dhabi, where Wardé was partner architect and Penone was one of two artists commissioned to create site-specific permanent installations. They will also consider the creative exploration of space, form, and material inherent to both art and architecture, shedding light on the fascinating intersections that shape their collaborative efforts. The conversation will be conducted in French.

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March 29–May 20, 2023
Gagosian Shop, London

Giuseppe Penone is taking over the Gagosian Shop in London’s historic Burlington Arcade with Somersault. Posters, books, and catalogues, including historical items, are presented alongside selected works on paper by the artist to coincide with his exhibition at Galleria Borghese, Rome, on view through May 28, 2023.

In a diverse body of sculpture, performance, photography, and works on paper spanning more than fifty years, Penone, a practitioner of Arte Povera, explores growth, respiration, and other involuntary natural processes, drawing attention to the relationship between man and nature. The works on view in the Shop include Somersault (2020), a suite of twenty-one drypoint etchings; the print Identity (2018); and the iconic photograph Rovesciare i propri occhi (Reversing One’s Eyes) (1970), in which Penone was photographed wearing custom-made mirrored contact lenses.

Highlights of the presentation also include two rare 1970s exhibition posters and numerous catalogues and monographs on the artist, including The Inner Life of Forms, published by Gagosian in 2018, and Le Bois Sacré du Couvent de la Tourette (2022), an artist’s book inspired by the recent installation at the monastery designed by Le Corbusier in Éveux, France.

June 7–March 19, 2023
Terme di Caracalla, Rome
www.coopculture.it

Four monumental bronze sculptures of trees by Giuseppe Penone—Idee di pietra, Olmo (2008), Idee di pietra, Ciliegio (2011), Triplice (2011), and ldentity (2019)—are installed in the former Olympic-size swimming pool of the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Built in the early third century CE, these public baths occupy a vast area near the Palatine Hill in the center of the city and are defined by mighty walls, some up to 30 meters (almost 100 feet) high, and extensive and well-preserved mosaic floors. Installed among the ruins, Penone’s trees are in dialogue with the architecture of the past, inspiring reflection on humanity’s relationship with nature, space, and time.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 5pm EDT

On the occasion of the exhibition Propagazioni: Giuseppe Penone at Sèvres, on view at Frick Madison, New York, through August 28, 2022, members of the museum’s curatorial team have organized an online seminar about the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in France and the distinguished career of Giuseppe Penone. Assistant curator of decorative arts Marie-Laure Buku Pongo will discuss the manufactory’s technical and artistic achievements, in particular its collaborations with contemporary artists. Assistant curator of sculpture Giulio Dalvit will explore Penone’s practice and the ways it challenges distinctions between art and nature, sculpture and painting, seeing and touching. To attend the event, purchase tickets at tickets.frick.org.

March 25–September 12, 2021
Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy

Giuseppe Penone’s Abete (Fir) is installed in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, to celebrate Dantedì, the day dedicated to the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, and the 700th anniversary of his death. The trunk and branches are made of cast stainless steel, encircled by a lattice with eighteen cast bronze elements. At just over 72 feet high, Penone’s sculpture is the largest ever installed in a public space in Florence and anticipates an upcoming exhibition of his work at the Gallerie degli Uffizi entitled Alberi In-versi (In-verse Trees), opening July 6.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 1pm EST

Join Gagosian for a conversation between Giuseppe Penone and Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries, London. The pair will discuss the artist’s practice, which is deeply engaged with nature and time, as well as his outdoor installation in San Francisco. Two large-scale bronze sculptures cast from trees—La logica del vegetale (The Logic of the Vegetal) (2012) and Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone) (2004)—are dramatically installed in Fort Mason’s Great Meadow, overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, through March 28, 2021.

October 7, 2020–January 17, 2021
Drawing Center, New York
drawingcenter.org

The benefit exhibition 100 Drawings from Now features drawings made by an international group of artists since early 2020, providing a snapshot of artistic production during the period of profound global unrest that has resulted from the ongoing health and economic crises, as well as the surge of activism in response to systemic racism, social injustice, and police brutality in the United States. Together, the donated works spotlight the urgency, intimacy, and universality of drawing during moments of upheaval and isolation. Proceeds from the sales will support the Drawing Center and the artists. Work by Cecily Brown, Giuseppe Penone, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn is included.

Thursday, July 30, 2020, 12pm edt

Join Gagosian for a trio of online presentations to learn about the ways Michael Craig-Martin, Man Ray, and Giuseppe Penone approach three-dimensional form and its potential to change the way we engage with the world. Craig-Martin will speak about his own practice, while Max Teicher and Pepi Marchetti Franchi will each discuss the works of Man Ray and Penone respectively. To join, register at zoom.us.

An excerpt of Giuseppe Penone: The Inner Life of Forms is available for online reading from July 1 through July 30 as part of the From the Library series. The selected essay, Sculpting Time by archaeologist and art historian Salvatore Settis, draws Penone’s work into dialogue with classical and preclassical history. The full monograph, edited by Carlos Basualdo of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is the most comprehensive survey of the artist’s oeuvre to date. The book consists of two components: a three-part, in-depth dialogue between Basualdo and Penone and essays by Emily Braun, Tim Ingold, Rémi Labrusse, and Settis; and twelve individual booklets containing eleven new texts by longtime Penone scholar and collaborator Daniela Lancioni that explore the core themes and interests embodied in the artist’s work.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 6:30–8:30pm
Kenwood House, London
www.english-heritage.org.uk

In the interest of public health, this event has been postponed until further notice.

Gagosian is pleased to host a drinks reception to celebrate the release of Visions of the Self: Rembrandt and Now, published on the occasion of the recent eponymous exhibition at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London. Organized in partnership with English Heritage, the exhibition places Rembrandt’s masterpiece Self-Portrait with Two Circles (c. 1665) in dialogue with self-portraits by Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud, and Pablo Picasso, as well as leading contemporary artists such as Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Giuseppe Penone, Richard Prince, Jenny Saville, Cindy Sherman, and Rudolf Stingel, among others. The catalogue includes an introduction by Wendy Monkhouse, senior curator at English Heritage, and a text by art historian David Freedberg. To attend the free event, RSVP to londonevents@gagosian.com. Space is limited.

Thursday, October 17, 2019, 5:30pm
Palais d’Iéna, Paris
www.lecese.fr

Giuseppe Penone will speak with Germano Celant about his exhibition Matrice di linfa, opening at the Palais d’Iéna, Paris, on October 15, on the occasion of FIAC 2019. The event is free to attend.

October 24, 2019–March 28, 2021
Fort Mason, San Francisco
parksconservancy.org

Gagosian presents an outdoor installation by Giuseppe Penone in San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason. Two sculptures by Penone—La logica del vegetale (The Logic of the Vegetal) (2012) and Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone) (2004)—will be installed in Fort Mason’s Great Meadow, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. This project is presented in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area through the Art in the Parks program. To attend the opening reception on Thursday, October 24, from 5 to 6:30pm, RSVP to rsvpsf@gagosian.com.

Download the full press release (PDF)

Thursday, October 24, 2019, 5–6:30pm
Great Meadow, Fort Mason, San Francisco
www.parksconservancy.org

As the sun sets over the San Francisco Bay, join us to celebrate the opening of a public installation of two large-scale bronze sculptures by Giuseppe Penone in San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason. The evening will include brief remarks by Gagosian’s Charlie Spalding with a drinks reception to follow. To attend the free event, RSVP to rsvpsf@gagosian.com.

Saturday, September 14, 2019, 3pm
Gagosian, San Francisco

Join Gagosian for a tour of Giuseppe Penone’s first solo exhibition in San Francisco. Penone uses objects from the natural world to document the intertwined relationship between humans and nature. Gagosian’s Graham Dalik will provide an overview of the artist’s career, from his early works as a major figure of the Arte Povera movement in the 1960s to the present day, and offer an in-depth look at a selection of the sculptures on view in the show.  To attend the free event, RSVP to sftours@gagosian.com.

Sunday, May 12, 2019, 4pm
Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
www.castellodirivoli.org

Giuseppe Penone will speak with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, director of the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Turin, Italy, about his fifty-year career and his recent monograph The Inner Life of Forms, edited by Carlos Basualdo and published  by Gagosian. The event is free with museum admission.

Thursday, April 25, 2019, 6pm
Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London

Gagosian director and art historian Richard Calvocoressi will lead a tour of the exhibition Visions of the Self: Rembrandt and Now at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London. Calvocoressi will take a look at postwar and contemporary masters of self-representation, anchoring the conversation to an important Rembrandt masterpiece included in the exhibition, Self-Portrait with Two Circles (c. 1665). The event has reached capacity. To join the wait list, contact londontours@gagosian.com.

Saturday, November 10, 2018, 2:30pm
Gagosian Shop, New York
gagosianshop.com

Giuseppe Penone will sign copies of his newly released monograph, The Inner Life of Forms, published by Gagosian, which examines the artist’s more-than-forty-year career. To attend the free event, RSVP to penonemonograph@gagosian.com.

Friday, November 9, 2018, 6pm
Philadelphia Museum of Art
www.philamuseum.org

Giuseppe Penone will discuss his life’s work and celebrate the publication of his new monograph, The Inner Life of Forms, with the book’s editor Carlos Basualdo, senior curator of contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The event is free with museum admission. Space is limited and will be granted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Saturday, November 10, 2018, 6:30pm
Greene Space, New York
www.thegreenespace.org

Giuseppe Penone will discuss his new monograph, The Inner Life of Forms, with the book’s editor Carlos Basualdo, senior curator of contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, at the Greene Space, New York. The talk—hosted by art critic Deborah Solomon—will begin promptly at 6:30pm. Watch live on Gagosian’s Facebook and YouTube.

Preceding the talk, Penone will sign copies of the monograph at the Gagosian Shop, New York, beginning at 2:30pm.

May 26, 2018–April 28, 2019
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK
www.ysp.ork.uk

Yorkshire Sculpture Park will present an extensive new exhibition by Giuseppe Penone which aims to trace his evolving and deeply thoughtful investigation of sculpture’s intimate connections to the organic world. Works drawn from five decades of his career, from the late 1960s to the present day will be on display, including the thirteen-meter-high Vene di pietra tra i rami (2015), which has never been previously exhibited in the UK.

Opening May 23, 2017
Largo Goldoni, Rome

Giuseppe Penone’s new monumental sculpture, Foglie di pietra, commissioned by Fendi, will be unveiled to the public in Largo Goldoni, Rome, opposite Palazzo Fendi. This will mark the first time in which a significant contemporary artwork will be installed permanently in the historical center of Rome.