Gagosian Gallery

The Gagosian Gallery is located in Beverly Hills, which is one of the more pristine areas of Los Angeles. The gallery is a decent size and carries quite a modernized look on the inside. The walls are the color of pure white, and it has a very clean and elegant feel over all. The Gagosian Gallery put on a show of an artist by the name of Giuseppe Penone. The show was called Ramificazioni De Pensiero, otherwise known as Branches of Thought.

The gallery is split up into three different sections, the north gallery, which held two of Giuseppe’s sculptures, the south gallery, which held most of the artwork, and the upstairs gallery. In order to get to the upstairs gallery, one must walk through a tiny white staircase, and up above is the main head quarters where most of the people work in the gallery. They also have a library with many books that the gallery owns. The Gagosian Gallery throws parties and host meetings on the roof as well. The roof overlooks most of Beverly Hills and holds a beautiful and peaceful view of the city. There are a few sculptures that are on display on the roof also. Downstairs is a secret room with private artwork, and only certain parties can go in and see what the gallery has arranged there.

The artwork and sculptures were displaced in a spacious sense. The sculptures had plenty of room for the audience to view it from all directions. The north gallery only had two tree sculptures in it, whereas the south gallery had much more artwork presented. Although, both galleries definitely spaced out the artwork so each piece got the right attention it deserved.

Giuseppe Penone works with many different mediums and it is most definitely shown throughout this show. The two sculptures in the north gallery were both made out of real trees. The south gallery carried a variety of pieces working with canvas, acrylic, glass microspheres, acacia thorns, white carrara marble, bronze, gold, silk, charcoal, and more. Giuseppe Penone is a very detail oriented artist and his work draws in the audience to the unique features of his work. One work in particular that stands out is the Spine d’acacia. This piece is 118 ½ x 189 ½ x 2 inches large. It is made up of thousands of very sharp acacia thorns upon which Giuseppe Penone glued down himself to have the appearance of lips. Another technique he uses is with marble, and he scrapes it away to its purest form and these scuffs form beautiful markings along the slab of marble. Even though the meaning might not be clear to the viewers right away, there is a sense where one can identify their own personal meaning within each piece.