Marisa Merz (née Maria Luisa Truccato 23 May 1926 – 20 July 2019) was an Italian artist and sculptor."Marisa Merz Biography"
Gladstone Gallery. Retrieved 18 October 2018. In the 1960s, Merz was the only female protagonist associated with the radical

Arte povera Arte Povera (; literally "poor art") was an art movement that took place between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in major cities throughout Italy and above all in Turin. Other cities where the movement was also important are ...

movement. In 2013 she was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. She lived and worked in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy.

Early life

Marisa Merz was born in Turin, Italy, in 1926. Her father worked for

Fiat Automobiles Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

. She studied classical ballet and modelled for

Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (4 December 1883 – 1 March 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusual ...

for a period. In the 1950s she met the artist

Mario Merz Mario Merz (1 January 1925 – 9 November 2003) was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz. Life Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' ant ...

, who would later become her husband, who was studying in Turin. In 1960, they married and had a daughter, named Beatrice (Bea) Merz."Marisa Merz's Factory of Dreams"
''The New Yorker''. Retrieved 18 October 2018. The couple lived in Frutigen in the Alps for three years. Very little about Merz's early life, including her maiden name, is known publicly.

''Arte Povera'' and Career

In June 1967, Merz had her first solo exhibition at the Gian Enzo Sperone Gallery in Turin, for which she made a folded aluminum foil installation.Lumley, Robert. ''Movements in Modern Art: Arte Povera''. London (2004): 34. Print. In December 1967, she had another show at the Piper Pluri Cub, a Turin disco that had opened the year before to host radical artistic events. In October 1968, she participated in the three day ''Arte Povera + Azione Povera'' event, curated by

Germano Celant Germano Celant (11 September 1940 – 29 April 2020) was an Italian art historian, critic, and curator who coined the term "Arte Povera" (poor art) in the 1967 ''Flash Art'' piece "Appunti Per Una Guerriglia" ("Notes on a guerrilla war"), which w ...

, in

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

."Arte Povera piu azioni povere 1968"
Madre. Retrieved 18 October 2018. This

event, which also included the artists

Michelangelo Pistoletto Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 23 June 1933) is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject mat ...

Alighiero Boetti Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti, known as Alighiero e Boetti (16 December 1940 – 24 April 1994) was an Italian Conceptual Art, conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera. Background Boetti is most famous for a se ...

Giovanni Anselmo Giovanni Anselmo (5 August 1934 – 18 December 2023) was an Italian artist, who emerged after World War II within the art movement called Arte Povera. His most famous artwork is ''Untitled (Sculpture That Eats)'' (1968), a piece of art representin ...

, and

, was radical for its avant-garde display of every day "poor" materials as art. Her work continued to reflect many of the fundamental issues with which Arte Povera artists are preoccupied, such as organic forms, subjectivity, the use of lower forms of art, including crafts, and the relationship between art and life. In 1969 she had a solo exhibition at the Attico Gallery in Rome. Her works took on an openly environmental character in a series of "rooms." Her husband Mario was supportive of her art and her career and would help her with her installations. In 1975 she also had a solo exhibition in Rome. This exhibition featured installations made by using knitted copper, under the title of ''Ad occhi chiusi gli occhi sono straordinariamente aperti'' ('To closed eyes, the eyes are extraordinarily open'). As a young artist, Merz did not receive wide-spread recognition, despite her huge contribution to the scene. Later, the growth of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

brought her greater consideration. Marisa Merz's art has been described as lyrical, subtle, visionary, and private. Her installations feature the idea of the home as an intimate place, private, and feminine. An example is her 1966 installation ''Untitled (Living Sculpture)'', which was intended both for her home and to be presented in a gallery (she once said 'There has never been any division between my life and my work'). The installation consisted of thin strips of aluminium, clipped and suspended from the ceiling, forming coils and spirals. The work was acquired by

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

in 2009. Her practice integrated aspects of craft and practices traditionally associated with women (e.g. knitting) and often employed mundane materials, such as copper, aluminum, waxed paper, and paraffin wax, which reflected her home environment. In this way, her art exemplifies that of the

Arte Povera Arte Povera (; literally "poor art") was an art movement that took place between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in major cities throughout Italy and above all in Turin. Other cities where the movement was also important are ...

group, which collectively sought to "call into question—if not subvert—the high-gloss finish of fine art and its deadness as an institutional commodity." As an artist, Merz refused to formally name or date her works and claimed that art making operated "beyond time." In her 1975 artist statement she talked about the absent divide between her life and her work that she created. By this time she had extracted herself from the art scene and practically locked herself in her studio to work. Therein she reflected about life with her daughter, Bea, while she was constructing her aluminum sculptures and how her daughter taught her so much in that time. In 1977, Merz had a solo exhibition at Galleria Salvatore Ala in Milan, Italy. After her husband's death in 2003, Merz left his studio untouched and continued to work into her 90s. In 2015, Beatrice Merz later opened a contemporary art center, the Fondazione Merz, in Turin. She took part in documenta 7 in 1982 and documenta 9 in Kassel in 1992. She was also included in the Venice Binnale in 1988. In 1994, she had her first US show at Barbara Gladstone.

Awards

In 2001, at the

, or Biennale di Venezia, Merz received the Special Jury Prize Award. At the 2013 Venice Biennale she was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (also called the ''Leone d'Oro'').Cascone, Sarah (5 June 2013
Venice Biennale Golden Lions to Maria Lassnig and Marisa Merz
''Art in America''

Recent exhibitions

Source: * ''Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction'',

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, DC / 2024 * ''The Shape of Time'' at

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

, Minneapolis MN / 2005–2009 * ''Italics, Italian Art between Tradition and Revolution, 1968–2008'' at Palazzo Grassi, Francoi Pinault Foundation, Venice Italy / 2009–2010 * ''Marisa Merz'' at Gladstone Gallery, New York City / May – July 2010 * ''Arte Povera'' at

Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein The Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (English language, English: ''Liechtenstein Museum of Fine Arts'') is a state art museum in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. The building by the Swiss architects Meinrad Morger, Heinrich Degelo and Christian Kerez was complet ...

, Vaduz, Liechtenstein / 2010 * ''Marisa Merz'' at Gladstone Gallery, New York City / October – November 2010 * ''Marisa Merz'' at Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, Belgium / January – March 2011 * ''Group Show'' at Bernier Ellades, Athens, Greece / November 2011 – January 2012 * ''Marisa Merz: Draw draw draw redraw the image thought that walks'' at Foundation Merz, Turin, Italy / 2012 * ''Marisa Merz'' at Monica De Cardenas, Zuoz, St. Moritz, Switzerland / December 2012 – February 2013 * ''Marisa Merz'' at the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

, London, UK / September 2013 – November 2013 * ''Marisa Merz: The Sky Is a Great Space'' at

Met Breuer The Met Breuer ( ) was a museum of modern and contemporary art in the Breuer Building at Madison Avenue and East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It served as a branch museum of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ( ...

, New York City / 24 January – 7 May 2017,

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

, Los Angeles, CA / 4 June 2017 – 20 August 2017 *''Marisa Merz'' a
Bernier/Eliades
Athens, Greece / 13 December 2018 - 14 February 2019 *''Marisa Merz'' at

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

, Philadelphia, PA / - Summer 2020

Death

Merz died on 19 July 2019 at the age of 93.

References

External links

List of works

List of exhibitionsFondazione Merz: Marisa Merz

Tate Modern: Marisa Merz

GroveArt: Marisa Merz

ULAN Entries: Marisa Merz

Sydney Biennale

Tate Modern: Marisa Merz
* Review of the Marisa Merz exhibition
Marisa Merz. It does not correspond however it flourishes
(Venice, 1 June – 18 September 2011)
Marisa Merz: la dimensione ancestrale del costruire, sul portale RAI Arte

Marisa Merz
exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Merz, Marisa 1926 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Italian sculptors 21st-century Italian sculptors Artists from Turin Arte Povera Italian contemporary artists Artists from Milan 20th-century Italian women sculptors 21st-century Italian women sculptors