paola pivi imagines a living cosmos grown from lemon trees at perrotin paris exhibition

A universe grown from lemon trees occupies perrotin paris

What if regeneration wasn’t metaphorical but literal? In Live Again, Paola Pivi builds a world where life cycles are embedded into the artwork itself, using living matter as both medium and message. Presented at Perrotin Paris and running until April 18th, 2026, the exhibition centers on New Life, a series of sculptural constellations formed from carefully cut lemon tree branches designed to regrow. Alongside a bronze composition, fifty star-like structures transform organic fragments into a speculative cosmos, where destruction becomes a precondition for renewal.

The trees are not simply referenced but materially altered to continue living beyond the exhibition, suggesting that art can evolve and regrow instead of simply exist as an object. In this sense, Live Again shifts from representation to process, suggesting a future where artistic production aligns with ecological continuity.

view of the exhibition ‘Live again’ at Perrotin Paris (France), 2026 | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

paola pivi uses Wonder as a critical tool

A sequence of environments that oscillate between playfulness and confrontation forms the exhibition at Perrotin Paris. Hand-painted phrases such as INTERNATIONAL LAW, FREE, and HUMANS appear in vivid colors, initially disarming before revealing their political charge. As the museum director of the Museums Commission, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture, Valentino Catricalà notes, the Italian artist’s work operates like a ‘punch to the gut,’ using familiar, even joyful, forms to deliver direct reflections on contemporary realities, including postcolonial structures and systems of power.

This tension continues with works like ‘God let me hunt’, where language expands into both spiritual invocation and metaphor for desire, ambition, and survival. Silk embroideries and a reinterpreted inflatable ladder extend this dialogue, positioning movement, aspiration, and scale as tools for rethinking collective futures.

a world where life cycles are embedded into the artwork | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Dissolving boundaries between real and artificial

In the central rooms, the exhibition reaches its most immersive state. The scent of lemon trees fills the space, while living plants coexist with bronze replicas so finely crafted they appear to breathe. The distinction between organic and artificial collapses, reinforcing Pivi’s long-standing interest in destabilizing perceptions. These hybrid forms originate from an idea dating back to 1999, now realized as trees that resemble stars, or entire universes. Nature becomes structure, and structure becomes cosmos. It’s less about representation and more about recalibrating how we perceive scale, material, and life itself.

The final rooms shift toward a more explicit critique. Deflated balloons suspended by iron rings evoke both victims of violence and a collective condition of inertia, originally linked to reflections on mafia-related trauma in Italy. Here, Pivi’s language becomes stark, stripping away illusion while maintaining her signature visual lightness. Alongside this, her long-running pearl works introduce another dimension: accumulation as meditation. Thousands of artificial pearls form tactile surfaces that echo natural processes of defense and transformation. As the artist reflects, this act connects to ‘the spiritual side of creative thought,’ where repetition and patience generate meaning.

the exhibition centers on New Life (2026) | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Paola Pivi,Live again, 2026 Bronze, paint | image by Tanguy Beurdeley, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Paola Pivi, I am happy with the ladder, 2019 3D frased foam, painted, plinth 42 × 12 × 6 cm | 16 9/16 × 4 3/4 × 2 3/8 inches Base : 50 × 15 × 15 cm | 19 11/16 × 5 7/8 × 5 7/8 inches | image by Guillaume.Ziccarelli, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Paola PIVI Human Rights, 2026 Silk 36 × 55 × 4 cm | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Paola Pivi Free Brainwash, 2026 Silk 40 × 120 × 4 cm | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Paola Pivi, Senza titolo (contro la mafia per l’attentato di Via Palestro)(II), 2026 Balloons mounted on paper with grommets 51 × 72 cm | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

Pivi’s language becomes stark | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

joyful forms deliver direct reflections on contemporary realities | image by Claire Dorn, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin

project info:

exhibition: Live Again
artist: Paola Pivi | @paolapivi
venue: Perrotin Paris, 76 rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris, France
dates: March 14th – April 18th, 2026

The post paola pivi imagines a living cosmos grown from lemon trees at perrotin paris exhibition appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.