Svolgere la propria pelle
Giuseppe Penone
1971
Svolgere la propria pelle
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This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own ...
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Svolgere la propria pelle
Giuseppe Penone
1971
Turin: Sperone Editore
Unpaginated [106 pages]
21.8 × 21 cm

This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own body into a flippable surface.




Penone’s approach aligns with other artistic explorations of the body as a site to be disguised, performed, and reconfigured, where the limits between the self, the skin, and the world become permeable. Fragmented across the pages of this book, his body can be literally read, turned, and reassembled, bringing into focus questions of subjectivity and representation. No longer simply a tool for creating art, the artist's body itself becomes the medium and the message: an autonomous artwork. This precise idea is developed by Penone in an interview with Jason Farago for Even (Spring 2018):




“Casting is an important part of my work. Because it’s an impression of a body that isn’t a representation of a body. In other words, at this moment, the late ’60s, when it was essentially forbidden in art to do representation, casting gave the opportunity to reintroduce the figure, to introduce the body in an objective fashion, and not to interpret it.”




That same year, Penone carried out a related photographic investigation of his dog, Moretto, in Svolgere la propria pelle – Cane (To Unroll One’s Skin – Dog), extending his exploration of the skin as both a boundary and a surface of inscription.

Turin: Sperone Editore
Unpaginated [106 pages]
21.8 × 21 cm

This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own body into a flippable surface.


Penone’s approach aligns with other artistic explorations of the body as a site to be disguised, performed, and reconfigured, where the limits between the self, the skin, and the world become permeable. Fragmented across the pages of this book, his body can be literally read, turned, and reassembled, bringing into focus questions of subjectivity and representation. No longer simply a tool for creating art, the artist's body itself becomes the medium and the message: an autonomous artwork. This precise idea is developed by Penone in an interview with Jason Farago for Even (Spring 2018):


“Casting is an important part of my work. Because it’s an impression of a body that isn’t a representation of a body. In other words, at this moment, the late ’60s, when it was essentially forbidden in art to do representation, casting gave the opportunity to reintroduce the figure, to introduce the body in an objective fashion, and not to interpret it.”


That same year, Penone carried out a related photographic investigation of his dog, Moretto, in Svolgere la propria pelle – Cane (To Unroll One’s Skin – Dog), extending his exploration of the skin as both a boundary and a surface of inscription.

DESCRIPTION

This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own body into a flippable surface.


Penone’s approach aligns with other artistic explorations of the body as a site to be disguised, performed, and reconfigured, where the limits between the self, the skin, and the world become permeable. Fragmented across the pages of this book, his body can be literally read, turned, and reassembled, bringing into focus questions of subjectivity and representation. No longer simply a tool for creating art, the artist's body itself becomes the medium and the message: an autonomous artwork. This precise idea is developed by Penone in an interview with Jason Farago for Even (Spring 2018):


“Casting is an important part of my work. Because it’s an impression of a body that isn’t a representation of a body. In other words, at this moment, the late ’60s, when it was essentially forbidden in art to do representation, casting gave the opportunity to reintroduce the figure, to introduce the body in an objective fashion, and not to interpret it.”


That same year, Penone carried out a related photographic investigation of his dog, Moretto, in Svolgere la propria pelle – Cane (To Unroll One’s Skin – Dog), extending his exploration of the skin as both a boundary and a surface of inscription.

Turin: Sperone Editore
Unpaginated [106 pages]
21.8 × 21 cm

This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own body into a flippable surface.


Penone’s approach aligns with other artistic explorations of the body as a site to be disguised, performed, and reconfigured, where the limits between the self, the skin, and the world become permeable. Fragmented across the pages of this book, his body can be literally read, turned, and reassembled, bringing into focus questions of subjectivity and representation. No longer simply a tool for creating art, the artist's body itself becomes the medium and the message: an autonomous artwork. This precise idea is developed by Penone in an interview with Jason Farago for Even (Spring 2018):


“Casting is an important part of my work. Because it’s an impression of a body that isn’t a representation of a body. In other words, at this moment, the late ’60s, when it was essentially forbidden in art to do representation, casting gave the opportunity to reintroduce the figure, to introduce the body in an objective fashion, and not to interpret it.”


That same year, Penone carried out a related photographic investigation of his dog, Moretto, in Svolgere la propria pelle – Cane (To Unroll One’s Skin – Dog), extending his exploration of the skin as both a boundary and a surface of inscription.

MORE BOOKS

This project brings the notion of body art into the context of Arte Povera. Through 607 photographs made in collaboration with photographer Claudio Basso, Giuseppe Penone maps his skin inch by inch, transforming his own body into a flippable surface.


Penone’s approach aligns with other artistic explorations of the body as a site to be disguised, performed, and reconfigured, where the limits between the self, the skin, and the world become permeable. Fragmented across the pages of this book, his body can be literally read, turned, and reassembled, bringing into focus questions of subjectivity and representation. No longer simply a tool for creating art, the artist's body itself becomes the medium and the message: an autonomous artwork. This precise idea is developed by Penone in an interview with Jason Farago for Even (Spring 2018):


“Casting is an important part of my work. Because it’s an impression of a body that isn’t a representation of a body. In other words, at this moment, the late ’60s, when it was essentially forbidden in art to do representation, casting gave the opportunity to reintroduce the figure, to introduce the body in an objective fashion, and not to interpret it.”


That same year, Penone carried out a related photographic investigation of his dog, Moretto, in Svolgere la propria pelle – Cane (To Unroll One’s Skin – Dog), extending his exploration of the skin as both a boundary and a surface of inscription.

MORE BOOKS