Giuseppe Penone

"Through both his analytical and sensorial approach, he takes us to another vision of our physical world, and emphasizes the existing link between human being and mother nature."

Giuseppe Penone is an Italian artist who became part of a movement called Arte Provera in the 60's.  Since then, he has used many materials to create his art that are considered relatively unconventional - such as wax, wood, and natural elements like the rain and sun.  Penone is extremely interested in nature and the body and, through his art, conveys the beauty of our natural environment and its connection to the body.

In Penone's 1968 work titled Alpi marittime: Albero, filo di zinco, piombo (Maritime Alps: Tree, zinc wire, lead), shown below, he traced his hand and arm and embedded wire into the bark of a tree.  The idea is that the tree would adapt and grow around and with the material.

In possibly his most famous work, titled Rovesciare i propri occhi (To reverse one's eyes), 1970, Penone is shown in a photograph, wearing custom-made mirrored contact lenses.  In this piece, the experience seems far more pertinent than the actual recorded work.  The experience allowed Penone to experience himself more objectively, to reflect on himself, to look inward.

Conceptually, all of Penone's work is intriguing - because of his thought process, his materials process, and his mindset.  That said, I find some of his artworks, which are less directly related to the body, visually far more interesting.

"Rise of the wood, of the forest, rise trees of the orchards, of the avenues, of the gardens, of the parks, rise from the wood that you have formed, take us back to the memory of our lives, tell us about the events, the seasons, the contacts of your existence.  Take us back to the woodland, the darkness, the shadow, the scent of the undergrowth, the wonder of the cathedral that is born in the wood land." 

-Giuseppe Penone, 1979

Sources:

http://www.exporevue.com/magazine/gb/penone_beaubourg_angl.html

http://www.museomadre.it/bio_show.cfm?id=67

http://www.allisonhunter.com/Art/penone.html

http://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/giuseppe-penone/