474 RIPOSTE

From one of the world's leading contemporary artists, a sentimental and artistic autobiography in 474 answers. An intimate account which is also an insightful exploration on the connections between men, nature and culture. A journey into the heart of creation: Penone's art teaches us to turn our gaze on the world upside down.

For Giuseppe Penone, sculpture is a way of understanding the world, of framing it: in his art, he searches for a shared memory among man, nature and stone, to unleash the power of imagination. Such a memory has distant roots: it's in his childhood in the foothills of the Alps, among rivers and forests, and it's in his family's legacy of the art of sculpture, that he powerfully reinterprets. Alain Elkann skillfully leads Penone through a heartfelt talk that retraces his artistic journey, and in which the artist shares his philosophy: ordinary shapes are abandoned in favour of more unconventional forms, unusual materials such as lead, iron, bronze, wax, pitch are favoured, especially, wood, a core element of Penone's works. What emerges is a continuous research on the connections between the body and the natural world, as well as the architectural space that surrounds us. A research that has led Giuseppe Penone's art to be welcomed among the most prestigious collections and exhibitions all over the world. Giuseppe Penone is an Italian sculptor, conceptual artist, and member of the Arte Povera movement. Born in Garessio, Italy, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Turin. Known for his exploration of the connection between natural and man-made forms, in 2001, he received the Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts, and, in 2007, participated in the Venice Biennale. His work is included in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, MAXXI in Rome, the Castello di Rivoli in Turin, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles among others. He lives and works in Turin and Paris. Alain Elkann is a writer, an intellectual and a contributor for "La Stampa" and "Il Messaggero. His novels, essays and articles are published in Italy by Bompiani and translated in several countries.