In keeping with the MAH programme, Musée Rath exhibitions are conceived in close connection with its collection. This new presentation, which pays homage to two giants of Arte Povera, Marisa Merz (1926-2019) and her spouse Mario Merz (1925-2003), was therefore developed around a major work, Sans titre (Untitled) by Mario Merz, created in Geneva in 1985 and donated by the artist to the MAH the following year.
Made up of nine installations, the exhibition uniquely emphasizes the strong connection between the two artists. For the first time, the public will discover a series of installations that they conceived together. More than collaborations, these can be seen as a four-handed self-portrait. Moreover, a work such as Igloo, which Mario dedicated to Marisa and exhibited in 1972 at documenta, also constitutes a sign of their unwavering and protective bond. Mario Merz, an anti-fascist resistance fighter of Swiss descent, developed work throughout his life that was marked by reflections on what unites us. While for Marisa, art was a means of bringing down the barrier between reality and our intimate imagination, Mario continuously recalled the fragility of our integration into nature. Together they incited us to imagine that art allows us to perceive the contours of the mirrors we too often set up between ourselves and the world. This message continues to have a poetic range rendered brutal by current events.
