River of Forms

Discover transformative works by artist Giuseppe Penone that explore the relationship between human experience and the natural world. River of Forms examines the central role that drawing plays in his practice and how it has informed many large sculptural works from the 1960s until today.

Nature has offered deep inspiration for the artist throughout his career. Penone incorporates natural materials such as wood, stone, clay, coffee, graphite, charcoal, leaves, and other media in his intensely tactile works, leaving the marks of his own fingerprints, breath, and even teeth.

Celebrating the artist’s extraordinary recent gift of drawings and artist books to the museum, this exhibition of nearly 200 works on paper and a selection of sculptures reflects Penone’s extraordinary range of techniques and materials, and his belief in art as a means of understanding our place in the world.