Giuseppe Penone is an Italian conceptual artist, whose work is primarily concerned with establishing a contact between man and nature. He belonged to Italy's Arte Povera (literally 'poor art') movement in the 1960s and 70s. Like many in the group, Penone uses simple materials from everyday life to unsettle the boundaries between art and nature, and to point out the interdependence among all organic life forms. Penone expands the sculptural process by introducing a 'natural dynamic'. He transforms the sculpture into an essential form, which takes shape naturally. Penone's key pieces from 1969, Tree and Stone and Trees and Stones, explore the dynamic dimension that Penone accomplished in allowing a shrub and a boulder to coexist. This form is open, forthcoming and exists in the atmospheric vibrations and movements, where the flowing of the sap confronts the immobility of the stone. There is a distortion between heaviness and lightness, creating a separate world where the 'mason' is nature. In this Penone creates a symbolic centre of his construction alongside the environmental sculpture. Penone uses nature to explore the mysteries of time and our existence, with the results for the viewer often resulting in bewilderment. Giuseppe Penone: The Hidden Life Within consists of plate sections on Penone's recent work in full page photography. To support the photography there are three essays on Penone by leading artists and critics and an interview with the artist himself. Renowned artist, writer and critic Germano Celante, discusses the coining of the term "Arte Povera" and contextualises Penone's work in the art scene of the time. Matthew Teitelbaum interviews the artist providing a uniquely personal view of the work he has created. There are further essays by art critic Professor Didier Semin, and writer John Bentley Mays. Giuseppe Penone is a celebration of a work until recently on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Penone' work is held in important collections internationally, including MoMA, New York and Tate, London. Public installations include Hall of the Sheraton Society Hill, Philadelphia, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris and University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago. Recent exhibitions include Venice Biennale, 2007, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Japan, 2009, Documenta 13, Kassel, the Hudson Vallery Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. AUTHOR: Matthew Teitelbaum is the director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. SELLING POINT: ? The only fully illustrated monograph in English on the work of the Italian Arte Povera artist Giuseppe Penone. ? Giuseppe Penone provides a detailed look at the prolific conceptual artist, including essays from key critics including the founder of the Arte Povera movement Germano Celante and an interview with the artist himself. ? Includes full page photography of the artist's work, detailing his sculptures, the materials, his working method and the finished installations, in situ at the Art Gallery of Ontario. ? Published in celebration of the public installation at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the artist's ongoing touring programme of installations worldwide. ILLUSTRATIONS: 170 colour b/w
