Best known for his interventions in the natural world, Italian artist Giuseppe Penone now brings a forest of his recent work to the Hong Kong branch of the Gagosian.“Forest” is an apt word for Penone’s creative practice, so much of which has been fascinated by the relationship between men and trees. Initially, this exploration took place in the woodland itself in such pieces as “It Will Continue to Grow Except at that Point” (“Continuerà a crescere tranne che in quel punto”), in which Penone inserted a cast of his hand into a tree to alter its growth process as part of a series of related acts/performances in December 1968.This fascination continues into the “Leaves of Stone” exhibition. The piece that gives the exhibition its name (from 2013), for example, is made up of tree branches cast in bronze holding found stonework that features patterns inspired by organic forms. Again, we can see an exploration of nature and how man uses and changes it in this piece, an exploration that both confirms Penone’s early identification as an Arte Povera artist, but also critiques its use of natural and found materials.Another of Penone’s most famous pieces is referenced in his new Gagosian show. Whereas 1970’s “Turning One’s Eyes Inside Out” had the artist wearing mirrored contact lenses to critique man’s self-reflexivity in the face of nature, “Reflection of Bronze” (“Riflesso del bronzo”) has the process breaking down.Penone cast eight bronze plaques, with each cast from its predecessor. As the original gets increasingly lost in each copy, we are asked to consider a world of only reflections, shadows of what is real. In Penone’s world, these shadows can certainly be as beautiful as a tree cast in bronze or marble, but this piece seems to confirm they are only shadows of nature nevertheless, and shadows that are always altered by the artist-poet specifically, and mankind generally.“Leaves of Stone” runs until March 12, 2016 at Gagosian Hong Kong.
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