Rome, at Villa Medici the works of Giuseppe Penone in the rooms of Cardinal Ferdinand

Giuseppe Penone (Garessio, 1947), one of Italy’s leading contemporary artists, is returning to exhibit at Villa Medici in Rome. And he does so from December 16, 2021, to February 27, 2022, with a project designed specifically for the historic rooms of Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici, entitled Giuseppe Penone at Villa Medici.

Following the major solo exhibition organized in 2008 by Richard Peduzzi, the Piedmontese artist, in the installation curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto, presents four works emblematic of his poetics: Vaso (1986) in ceramic and plaster, Il vuoto del vaso (2005) in white terracotta and x-rays, and Avvolgere la terra - vaso (2005) in white terracotta and plaster, the video Ephemeris (2016) and five sculptures in terracotta and bronze entitled Terra su terra - bacile (2005).

While the 2008 exhibition was presented in the most emblematic and majestic spaces of Villa Medici, a 16th-century jewel nestled in a seven-hectare park on the Pincio Hill in the heart of Rome, this time the artist occupies a place with a more intimate character: the private rooms of Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici (the Room of the Elements, the Room of the Muses, the Room of the Loves of Jupiter). For this project, presented with the support of the GAGOSIAN gallery, Giuseppe Penone seeks to highlight the singularity of the spaces, presenting three works that question the material and concept of sculpture.

One example is the work Vaso (Vase), composed of a ceramic bowl that houses a plaster vase whose deconstructed silhouette bears the imprint of the artist’s hands, echoing the private, almost domestic functions of the place that houses it. The artist’s imprint is also found in the work The Vase Void, a composition formed by a vase framed by three x-rays of hands, which plays on the materiality of forms and their visual perception. Finally, the encounter between gesture and material is found in the third work, Wrapping the Earth - Vase (2005), made of terracotta, a synthesis of a universal form that emphasizes the complex link between man and nature. Terracotta is also the material of which the vase at the center of the video Ephemeris, belonging to the 2016 cycle of the same name, is made, as are the basins supported by bronze bases inspired, also, by plant elements in the series Earth on Earth - basin (2005).

Giuseppe Penone’s works are integrated into the Villa Medici guided tour itinerary, thus proposing a dialogue between heritage and contemporaneity. Guided tours in French, Italian and English daily except Tuesdays. For more information on hours and rates: villamedici.it

Pictured: Giuseppe Penone, The Void of the Vase

Rome, at Villa Medici the works of Giuseppe Penone in the rooms of Cardinal Ferdinand

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