Propagazioni

A major figure in the Arte Povera movement of the late 1960s, the renowned Italian artist Giuseppe Penone is known for his exploration of the relationship between art and the natural world in a body of work that includes sculpture, performance, works on paper, and even garden design. His first works in porcelain, the exquisite disks presented here draw attention to the moment of touchthe convergence of surface and skinthat underpins so much of his work. Published to accompany The Frick Collection, New Yorks temporary installation of works by Penone, this new volume comprises eleven porcelain disks that the artist made during his 2013 residency at the Manufacture Nationale de Svres, the influential porcelain factory founded in the 18th century. A continuation of his Propagazioni (Propagations) series, begun in 1995, which includes various media, each disk bears the imprint of one of the artists fingertips. One of them is in gold, its imprint a variation on the artists index finger. Never before presented to the public, the installation of the disks in a gallery adjacent to the Fricks early Italian paintings on gold grounds and the porcelain room kindles a rich artistic dialogue with both porcelain and gold.