MARIO MERZ
STAND F4
(1925 - 2003, Milan, Italy)
Untitled, 1998, cardboard on tracing paper, neon numbers, transformer, cm.h. 150 x 325
Among the greatest figures in recent Italian art history, Mario Merz has always pursued a practice that intertwines artistic creation with natural and cultural phenomena. His work becomes an aesthetic exploration of the natural conditions of growth and development, of creation and destruction. Merz’s animals are nameless beasts, seen as triggers of ancestral memories, yet also as artistic phenomena that carry the weight of art history and culture: “The animal carries time... it is a striking image because it unites the immeasurable time of the distant past, prehistory that did not see us exist, and the future...”
Mario Merz has collaborated with Christian Stein since 1967.
Mario Merz is one of the most influential artists of his generation. As a pioneer of the Arte Povera movement, his work is characterized by a close connection with nature and life. Merz often juxtaposed the organic and inorganic, exploring experiences of life and humanity. Ideas regarding infinity and repetition are also central to his work, and he is perhaps most famous for his igloo constructions and his fascination with the Fibonacci sequence (the mathematical formula for growth patterns found in many forms of life).
His work can be found in numerous important collections worldwide, including:
MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Pinault Collection, Paris; La Galleria Nazionale, Roma; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Art Institute of Chicago; ARTIST ROOMS, National Galleries of Scotland and Tate; Dia Art Foundation; La Caixa Contemporary Art Collection; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Herbert Foundation, Gent; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Castello di Rivoli, Turin.