The only female artist affiliated to the radical 1960s art movement Arte Povera, Marisa Merz holds a special place in the history of Modern art.
While her male contemporaries built art from the detritus of Italy’s industrial age, many of Merz’s ingenious sculptures, paintings and installations are made from humble domestic items and traditional craft techniques. She has a natural affinity with materials, fashioning strange and fragile objects out of clay, copper wire, metal and fabric.
This exhibition brought together sculptures, paintings and installations from the 1960s to the present, and in particular her Living Sculpture series, a collection of suspended objects made from twisted aluminium. This was the first solo show since Merz won a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for her lifetime’s achievement. The exhibition was one of two opening shows for the newly launched Serpentine Galleries. Adrián Villar Rojas: Today We Reboot the Planet ran concurrently at the Serpentine North Gallery.
Poet and critic Quinn Latimer wrote a free, downloadable audio introduction for the Marisa Merz exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. Read by actress and writer Eleanor Bron, this audio piece addresses the visitor through a series of letters, reflecting upon the exhibition in the context of Merz’s life and wider work. This audio introduction was designed to be enjoyed in the exhibition or at home.
