Giuseppe Penone at Marian Goodman Gallery, London

Italian conceptual artist Guiseppe Penone's sculptural works transform London' Marian Goodman Gallery into a dreamlike forest. Pictured: installation view

(Image credit: Marian Goodman Gallery)

By Elly Parsons

last updated 25 October 2022

in Features

Giuseppe Penone has worked with wood for most of his illustrious career. His first pieces were made in a forest outside of his home town of Garessio in 1968, and he is best known for his Tratterne series, in which a bronze hand is cast onto a living tree. It's fitting, then, that London's Marian Goodman Gallery has been transformed into a dreamlike forest for a new survey of the Italian artist's conceptual work.

The ghostly white space is punctuated by sculptural trees, a wall of dark laurel leaves and ramshackle assemblages of broken branches. It feels like stepping into a woodland scene from a fairytale – the moral of which questions our place within the eco-system, and asks us how the human hand imprints upon the natural world.

Throughout, there's a tug-of-war going on between natural and man-made materials. Tree bark gives way to pristine white marble; a cage of branches is topped with smooth terracotta tiles; clear thumb-prints are left in a line of clay portraits of Penone's daughter. An imposing canvas covered in a freeform scattering of Acacia thorns sways it – manufactured materials have surrendered to the organic ones. This overpowering is aided by the heady, almond-purfume from the laurel leaves that swirls around the gallery, inducing visitors into zen-like state.

Penone once said, 'Tactile perception brings us closer to the present.' Marian Goodman have taken this concept, and nurtured it. One leaves the London space as if having spent the day in a spa; more mindful because of Penone's own mindfulness. A parallel exhibition in Marian Goodman's Paris outpost continues to peel back the layers of Penone's fascinating and continuing ouevre. If it's anything like the therapeutic London show, it will be well worth a visit.

A wall of dark laurel leaves. — The ghostly white space is punctuated by sculptural trees, a wall of dark laurel leaves (pictured) and ramshackle assemblages of broken branches

.A cage of branches is topped. — A cage of branches is topped with smooth terracotta tiles

Looks like branches and roots. — Guiseppe Penone has worked with wood for most of his long and illustrious career. His first pieces were made in a forest outside of Garessio in 1968, and he is best known for his *Tratterne* series (pictured), in which a bronze hand is cast onto a living tree

Many photos are on the wall. — A series of *Fingerprint* (ink on paper) impressions minimally line the upper gallery walls.

Clear thumb-prints are left in a line of clay portraits . — Clear thumb-prints are left in a line of clay portraits of Penone's daughter (pictured)

The show pieces are made of wood. — An imposing canvas covered in a freeform sattering of Acacia thorns (pictured) proves that manufactured materials have surrendered to the organic ones

Brown colored statue is made of clay seems. — Penone once said, 'Tactile perception brings us closer to the present.' Marian Goodman have taken this concept, and nurtured it. Pictured: installation view

This are made of wooden. — A parallel exhibition in Marian Goodman's Paris outpost continues to peel back the layers of Penone's fascinating and continuing ouevre. If it's anything like the theraputic London show, it will be well worth a visit. Pictured: installation views

Information

'Giuseppe Penone: Fui, Sarò, Non Sono (I was, I will be, I am not)' runs from 8 September to 22 October at Marian Goodman Gallery, London. For more information, visit the website

Photography courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

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Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.