Bringing together fifty years of painting, sculpture, and installations from the celebrated Italian artist Marisa Merz, this monograph accompanies a major US retrospective of her work.
This generously illustrated book offers readers the chance to appreciate the range of works by Marisa Merz, winner of the 2013 Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Biennale. This volume traces Merz’s artistic evolution from early experiments with non-traditional materials and processes, to intricately constructed installations of the 1970s and the enigmatic ceramic heads of the 1980s and ‘90s. Authoritative essays explore the rise of international women’s art in the 1960s and ’70s and Merz’s own place in Italy’s postwar art history. As the sole female protagonist of Arte Povera and one of the few Italian women to exhibit in major venues internationally, her practice is little known to audiences outside of Italy. Merz’s challenging and evocative body of work is deeply personal and resistant to the categories of art history, including Arte Povera with which she was closely associated. Previously unpublished texts and poetry by the artist, and an illustrated chronology, round out this comprehensive look at an enormously influential artist.