In the past, Giuseppe Penone rubbed graphite directly onto walls in order to reveal their structure, the one left behind after the builder`s hand had smoothed the surface. This age-old skill, buried in the plasterwork and inherent to the material itself, is revealed in all its curious complexity: the criss-cross lines, a confusion of traces and concealed masses henceforward became visible.
Following a similar approach, by drawing with graphite, Penone has meticulously copied the enlarged image of eyelids onto large sheets of paper, as well as onto the walls, in great detail: the lines and veins, the delicate skin and the marks of ageing; this fragile skin which, when closed, prevents the eye from projecting its gaze, turning its vision inwards and reducing the eye to darkness. Giuseppe Penone then precisely glued acacia thorns onto large canvases which in turn, side by side, reproduce the exact outline of the two eyelids. Placed either side of a marble plaque, we contemplate the
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