LONDON.- Serpentine presents Thoughts in the Roots, the most comprehensive institutional exhibition of Giuseppe Penone presented in the UK. On view until Sunday 7 September 2025, the exhibition is staged at Serpentine South and extends beyond the gallery to feature sculptures in the Royal Parks.

Expanding on the significance of trees as a recurring motif throughout Penone’s work and enabling the artist to “perceive the space of Serpentine as a continuum with the nature of the park that surrounds it”, three outdoor monumental bronze cast sculptures are presented on the plinth and close to the South gallery.

Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree, 2012) is on view alongside two works from the Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone) series. Based on a hundred-year-old willow that grew in Belgium, the sculpture depicts a willow tree struck by lightning with its wounds decorated with gold, while Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone) explores the juxtaposition of human and organic materials with the balance of unworked natural stones in and around the bronze cast trees.

Penone cast the tree in bronze and lined its pulp with gold leaf, capturing the invisible force of nature that sculpts its splintered shape and complex internal structure.

Idee di pietra – Ciliegio (Ideas of Stone – Cherry Tree) and Idee di pietra – 1891 kg di luce (Ideas of Stone – 1891 kg of Light) are part of a series in which the artist explores the relationship between river stones and the human thought process. Large river stones of varying shapes and sizes are placed on the forks of the bronze tree branches.

Thoughts in the Roots showcases the artist’s continued interest in the relationship between humans and the natural world, featuring works that range from 1969 to today.

A leading figure in the Arte Povera movement, born in Italy in the 1960s, that celebrates the simplicity of natural materials and artistic techniques, Giuseppe Penone experiments with a wide range of materials including wood, iron, wax, bronze, terracotta, marble and plaster, bringing their individual physical qualities to the fore.

Since its launch in the 1970s, Serpentine has maintained a long-standing commitment to bringing art out of the traditional gallery context and into the surrounding landscape, offering an opportunity for artists to engage with the immediate environment of Kensington Gardens.