![]() At times the works carry open questions in neon culled from a variety of sources-from political aphorisms and union slogans to anonymous writings on the wall and the artist’s own prose poems. Set atop a modular, metal-tube structure, Merz’s sculptures are clad in glass, clay, tar, and twigs, among others. Unlike Western extractive settler logic, the igloo models decentralization and sustainability, as it is designed to work with nature to preserve energy until it is dismantled and reassembled. Taking its name and shape from Inuit dwellings, Merz’s first igloo sculpture was realized in 1968. Teatro cavallo ( Horse Theater, 1967) asserts the continued presence of the animal world in advanced industrial societies by keeping the two realities-nature and neon-in perpetual balance. In Senza titolo ( Untitled, 1969) aneon rod pierces four stacked hay bales, reinstating the vast agricultural imaginary in the contemporary gallery space. The artist employed neon to question narratives of economic progress that present the agrarian and the animal as superseded categories. ![]() The question of how to sustain links with the past while articulating a critique of the present was central to Merz’s practice. Vento preistorico dalle montagne gelate ( Prehistoric Wind from Frozen Mountains, 1966–79) references this experimental period, with additions from a decade later. In the early 1960s Merz further pushed the limits of painting with wall-bound, projecting canvases pier-ced by neon tubes. Deskilled and intrasubjective, Untitled offers a rebuttal to the lyrical warps of Abstract Expressionism, the dominant style of the period. In Senza titolo ( Untitled, 1958), a gridded mandorla shape alternately reads as a face, leaf, or turtle shell. The slippage between figuration and abstraction as well as between animal, human, and vegetal imagery is evident in Merz’s early paintings. The works on view revisit Merz’s signature motifs, distinctive use of neon, and deployment of the Fibonacci sequence-where each number equals the sum of the two that precede it-for the structure of his installations. Using organic and industrial materials, Mario Merz developed a highly imaginative iconography and recast timeless forms, such as the igloo and table, in installations that draw attention to the interdependency of individuals, society, and the natural environment. Fruits and vegetables are a collaboration with Fareground Community Kitchen, Field and Larder Farm, and Obercreek Farm. Margulies. Special thanks to Fondazione Merz and Lite Brite Neon. Additional support provided by Nicolo Cardi, Raymond Learsy, and Martin Z. Mario Merz is made possible by significant support from Cindy and Howard Rachofsky. To this end, Merz pursued installations that are at once autonomous and open-ended, using the Fibonacci sequence as a symbol and structure, and employing widely varying materials like fruits, twigs, wax, tar, wire, and neon tubes, which at times spell out political aphorisms and at other times graft onto the architecture that hosts them. ![]() Formally related to Postminimalism in the United States and Mono-ha (School of Things) in Japan, Arte Povera challenged the traditional values placed on art objects by dissolving sculpture into performance. Merz was a central figure in the Arte Povera movement that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s. This will be his first solo institutional presentation in the United States in years. Using recycled organic and industrial materials, the artist developed a highly imaginative iconography and recast timeless forms, such as the igloo and table, in installations that envision the interdependency of individuals, society, and the natural environment. Spanning the late 1950s through the mid-1980s, the exhibition revisits Merz’s key forms and motifs, distinctive use of neon, and deployment of the Fibonacci sequence-where each number equals the sum of the two that precede it-for the structure of his installations. Dia Art Foundation presents a long-term exhibition of work by Mario Merz, opening fall 2020, at Dia Beacon in Beacon, New York. Featuring recent acquisitions, the exhibition includes Teatro cavallo ( Horse Theater, 1967) and Tavola spirale ( Spiral Table, 1982) alongside historical loans from collections in the United States and the Fondazione Merz in Turin.
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