2 w. ago
Giuseppe Penone: Thoughts in the Roots; José María Velasco: A View of Mexico – review
Serpentine South Gallery; National Gallery, London The arte povera veteran’s passionate celebration of trees risks being eclipsed by the real ones that surround it. And a 19th-century Mexican polymath becomes the first Latin American artist to have a solo show at the National GalleryA tree towers upwards in Kensington Gardens, slender but unimaginably strong, grey boulders perched like vultures among its branches. Another gestures directly to the sky, twigs spreading in eloquent appeal. A third can be seen at great distance, shattered as if by lightning, its broken glory shining bright cold in the sunshine.For one exhilarating moment it seemed as if the acclaimed Italian artist Giuseppe Penone had come upon these trees and simply adjusted them, with poetic ingenuity, to emphasise their exceptional strength and beauty. Then, just as viewers were discussing how miraculous trees are – everyone stunned, everyone photographing this radiant glade – someone knocked on a trunk. And we heard...
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