Preview

MARISA MERZ

August 30, 2025 – January 18, 2026

Opening: Friday, August 29, 2025

Marisa Merz, who was born in Turin in 1926 and died there in 2019, is now considered one of the key exponents of Arte Povera, indeed as one of the most important artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. However, her outstanding work is still far too unknown to a wider audience, something attributable to personal decisions and her temperament. As an autodidact, Merz initially developed her work during the 1960s without garnering much attention, and working in her domestic context, transforming it into a home-studio. She used simple materials such as clay, wood, natural fibers, wax, and aluminum to produce sculptures and installations. She also created drawings and paintings on paper, canvas, wood, and fiberboard, which form another essential part of her practice. Irrespective of their medium, the works testify to an interest in the poetic potential of material, the body and its limitations, femininity, the relationship between the private and public spheres, and philosophical dimensions. Merz’s diverse works display lyrical content as well as quiet, unassuming power. It was these characteristics that placed her in a unique position within the Arte Povera movement, where she served as a pioneering role model for generations of younger artists.

The exhibition is being realized in cooperation with the LaM – Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut, the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Fondazione Merz.