The strong ethereal connotation of the work she presents here leads directly to Merz’s works that, together with the location, have fuelled the planning and creation of the project. His entire production was carefully and keenly explored, investigating every thought he revealed through his neon writings, or the publication of a book.

The exhibition features works that Mario Merz created between the 1960s and ‘70s alongside site-specific installations by the Roman artist. Standing out among the latter is the work MareoMerz, around which the entire exhibition revolves. It consists of an installation made with a significant everyday object that belonged to Mario Merz, specifically his last car: Elisabetta Benassi celebrates its reappearance as the object becomes the link of a personal story that, due to unusual circumstances, blends into our collective history.

Following Benassi’s practice, the dialogue with Merz’s work develops naturally from her artistic research, which attempts to claim the memory of things, places and the people who use them. Every item holds within itself traces of its past moments, of its bonds to other objects, places, and people. Every element carries and expresses its own right to be, creating an endless string of relationships with the external world.