Marisa Merz

Marisa Merz (née Maria Luisa Truccato 23 May 1926 – 20 July 2019) was an Italian artist and sculptor. In the 1960s, Merz was the only female protagonist associated with the radical Arte povera movement. In 2013 she was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale. 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. 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. This Arte povera event, which also included the artists Michelangelo Pistoletto, Alighiero Boetti, Giovanni Anselmo, and Mario Merz, was radical for its avant-garde display of every day "poor" materials as art. 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 widespread recognition, despite her huge contribution to the scene. Her installations feature the idea of the home as an intimate, private, and feminine space. 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 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 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." Therein she reflected on 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.

She took part in documenta 7 in 1982 and documenta 9 in Kassel in 1992. She was also included in the Venice Biennale in 1988. In 1994, she had her first US show at Barbara Gladstone.

Recent exhibitions Source: Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC / 2024 The Shape of Time at Walker Art Center, 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, 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, London, UK / September 2013 – November 2013 Marisa Merz: The Sky Is a Great Space at Met Breuer, New York City / 24 January – 7 May 2017, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA / 4 June 2017 – 20 August 2017; catalog by Connie Butler Marisa Merz at Bernier/Eliades, Athens, Greece / 13 December 2018 - 14 February 2019 Marisa Merz at Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA / Summer 2020

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