Giuseppe Penone’s Ideas of Stone in Madison Square Park / New York

July 10, 2013

Italian artist Giuseppe Penone will be presenting three 40-foot high bronze trees in Madison Square Park, New York, from September 26, 2013 until February 9, 2014.

The artist has crafted twisted, deconstructed, and hollowed trees that incorporate nails, boulders and carvings, revealing the effect of human interaction with the natural world. He states: “A tree summarizes in an exemplary way the contrast between two forces: the force of gravity and the weight of life we are part of. The need and the search for balance, which exists in every living being to counteract the force of gravity, is evident in every step and in every small action of our lives. It is a river stone that appears amid the branches of a tree. A stone suspended amid the branches of a tree, separated from the soil by a structure that is not land and is not air, a stone that lies between the force of gravity and the force of the attraction of light.” The three works are titled Triplice (Triple), Idee di pietra 1303 Kg di luce (Ideas of stone – 1303 Kg of light), and Idee di pietra–Olmo (Ideas of stone – Elm).

Since 2004, Mad. Sq. Art has commissioned and presented more than twenty premier installations in Madison Square Park by acclaimed artists across a range of media.

Giuseppe Penone (b. 1947) lives and works in Turin and Paris.

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