Mario Merz

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Susan Krane

Hallwalls (Museum)

Mario Merz, the late, great proponent of Arte Povera, envisioned the contemporary artist as a nomad, ever mediating and meditating on the relationship between nature and culture. He began to make work after his arrest in 1945 for anti-fascist activities; confined to jail, he drew incessantly on whatever material he could find. After his release, he painted first in oil on canvas, then began to pierce the canvas--as well as objects such as bottles, umbrellas and raincoats--with neon tubes, symbolically infusing them with energy. In 1968, Merz adopted one of his signature motifs, the igloo, symbol of the transitory artist. At base a metal skeleton, the igloo could be covered with site-specific fragments of clay, wax, mud, glass, burlap, or bundles of branches, and decorated with political or literary phrases in neon tubing. Merz's iconography later came to incorporate the Fibonacci formula of mathematical progression (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...), stacked newspapers, archetypal animals, motorcycles and the table, symbol of the human need for fulfillment and interaction. This posthumous monograph is the most complete publication on the artist. It includes documentation of his entire artistic production, including paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, neon and Fibonacci series work, plus many previously unpublished materials. With a comprehensive history of Merz's career, a bibliography, a biographic chronology and critical essays, it offers a deep and deserving reflection of the artist and his significant role in twentieth-century art.

Paintings and Constructions, January 28-March 18, 1984, Albright-Knox Art Gallery : Drawings, February 3-February 25, 1984, Hallwalls

Disegni

Marosia Castaldi

"One looked like a dinosaur. Another one looked like an anteater. Another one a big lizard or a crocodile. They are not just figures or signs among the stars. They are living creatures that move up in the sky. The Universe is full of dinosaurs, kites, lizards and lions, men with arrows and rhinos." So writes Marosia Castaldi in this tender fable, in which the author's words combine with the magical visions of Mario Merz to tell of a world of imagination that can be found inside everyone. Haven't we all looked at the night sky and wondered if someone else was looking at the same stars and constellations, but from the other side?

Mario Merz

Books

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