Marisa Merz
Born in Turin, Italy, 1926
Died in Turin, Italy, 2019
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Forthcoming: Marisa Merz – La danza delle ore (The Dance of the Hours), Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy [travelling to: Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy; Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy]
2025
Marisa Merz, Galleria Massimo De Carlo Pièce Unique, Paris, France
Marisa Merz Ascoltare lo spazio / Listen to the Space, Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
2024
Marisa Merz: Listen to the Space, Lille Métropole Musée d’art modern, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
Marisa Merz, Thomas Dane Gallery, Naples, Italy
2023
Marisa Merz, Galleria Giorgio Persano and Tucci Russo Chambres d’Art, Turin, Italy
Marisa Merz, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
Marisa Merz and Shilpa Gupta: visibleinvisible, MAXXI L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
2019
Geometrie Sconnesse Palpiti Geometrici, Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, Lugano, Italy
Marisa Merz, Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia PA
2018
Marisa Merz: The Infinite Possibilities of Everyday Life, Gallery Bernier - Eliades, Athens, Greece
2017
Marisa Merz: The Sky is a Great Space, curated by Ian Alteveer and Connie Butler, The Met Breuer, New York NY; [travelled to: The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles CA; Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Museum of Modern Art Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria]
2016
Marisa Merz, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England
Marisa Merz, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
2013
Marisa Merz, Sepentine Gallery, London, England
Marisa Merz, Bernier/Eliades Gallery, Athens, Greece
Marisa Merz, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
2012
Marisa Merz, Monica De Cardenas Galleria, Zuoz, Switzerland
Marisa Merz, Christian Stein, Milan, Italy
Marisa Merz: disegnare disegnare ridisegnare il pensiero immagine che cammina, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy
2011
Marisa Merz, Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Marisa Merz: non corrisponde eppur fiorisce, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy
2010
Marisa Merz, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
Marisa Merz, Centre internationale d’art et du paysage, Ile de Vassivière, France
2008
Marisa Merz, Christian Stein Gallery, Milan, Italy
2007
Marisa Merz, Buchmann Galerie, Agra, Switzerland
Marisa Merz, Museo D'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy
2004
Marisa Merz, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
2003
Marisa Merz, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
2002
Marisa Merz, Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, France
1998
Marisa Merz, Villa delle Rose, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
1996
Marisa Merz, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1995
Marisa Merz, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
1994
Marisa Merz, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Marisa Merz, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
1993
Marisa Merz, Christian Stein Gallery, Milan, Italy
1984
Marisa Merz, Jean and Karin Bernier Gallery, Athens, Greece
1983
Marisa Merz, Galerie Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf, Germany
1980
Marisa Merz, Gallery Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy
1979
Marisa Merz, Jean and Karin Bernier Gallery, Athens, Greece
1975
Marisa Merz, Gallery l'Attico, Rome, Italy
1969
Marisa Merz, Gallery l'Attico, Rome, Italy
1967
Marisa Merz, Gallery Gian Enzo Sperone, Turin, Italy
Group Exhibitions
2026
In Our Image: The Fragile Body in Contemporary Art, curated by Simone Krug, The Warehouse, Dallas, TX
Paint Me a Body, Sprovieri, London, England
2025
Arte Povera, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Warsaw, Poland
Magical Realism: Imagining Natural Dis/order, Wiels, Brussels, Belgium
In the Main in the More, Fondation d’entreprise Pernod Ricard, Paris, France
Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland
A Vanished Wholeness, Modern Art Paris, Paris, France
2024
Arte Povera, Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection, Paris, France
Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture, mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria
La Via dell’Oro. I capolavori Dorati della Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria incontrano l’Arte Contemporanea [The Golden Way. Golden masterpieces from the National Gallery of Umbria dialogue with Contemporary Art], Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca d’Oro, Venice, Italy
Sous l’Azur, Art Explora Festival, Marseille, France
2023
Arte Povera 1967 - 1971, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
From Here to Infinity, Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, France
Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA [travelled to: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; The Museum of Modern Art, New York NY]
Che sarà sarà, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Guarene, Italy
The Grand Italian Vision: The Farnesina Collection, Embassy of Italy and Arts House, Singapore [travelled to: Bikaner House, New Delhi, India]
2022
Reversing the Eye: Photography, Film and Video in the Years of Arte Povera, Triennale Milano in collaboration with Jeu de Paume and LE BAL, Paris, France
In the Context of the Collection: Brian O'Doherty: Phases of the Self, Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein, Vaduz, Lichtenstein
Alfredo Jaar: THE TEMPTATION TO EXIST, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York NY
Il giardino dell’arte. Opere, collezioni, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
Arte all’Arte Mario e Marisa Merz, UMoCA, Colle Val d’Elsa, Italy
Marisa & Mario Merz, Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland
Territori della performance: percorsi e pratiche in Italia (1967-1982), MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy
Head On, LGDR Gallery, New York NY
Panorama Monopoli, various locations, Monopoli, Italy
Venedigsche Sterne. Kunst und Stickerei, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland
Vita Nuova. Nouveau enjeux de l’art en Italie 1960-1974, MAMAC, Nice, France
Naturecultures. Arte e Natura dall'Arte Povera a oggi. Dalle Collezioni della Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT al Castello di Rivoli, OGR Torino, Turin, Italy
Ordo naturalis ordo artificialis, ZACentrale, Palermo, Italy
2021
The Flames, MAM, Paris, France
Il Festival delle Colline Torinesi, Turin, Italy
Marisa and Mario Merz. A pencil point can surpass consciousness, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy
Io dico Io – I say I, La Galleria Nazionale, Rome, Italy
Human and Nature Portraits, Galleria Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy
L’altro, lo stesso, ZACentrale, Palermo, Italy
The Point of Sculpture, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
L’Âme primitive, Musée Zadkine, Paris, France
A.B.O. THEATRON. Art or Life, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy
Portals, The Former Public Tobacco Factory - Hellenic Parliament Library and Printing House, presented by the Hellenic Parliament and NEON, Athens, Greece
Arcimboldo Face to Face, Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz, France
141. Un secolo di disegno in Italia, Fondazione del Monte, Bologna, Italy
2020
Arte Povera. Italian Landscape, Metropolitan Museum, Manila, Philippines
I sei anni di Marcello Rumma. 1965-1970, Museo Madre, Naples, Italy
2019
All Natural, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Doing Deculturalization, Museion, Bolzano, Italy
Arte Povera, Magazzino Italian Art Foundation, Cold Spring NY
The Collection at the Fiera Foundation, Galleria d’Italia, Milan, Italy
Pittura Spazio Scultura, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Torino, Turin, Italy
Sublimi Anatomie, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
Entrate nell’opera. Processes and Performative Attitudes in Arte Povera, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein [travelled to: MAMC – Musée d’art modern et contemporain, Saint-Étienne, France]
Il Soggetto Imprevisto. 1978 Arte e Femminismo in Italia, FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
2018
Arte Povera: From the Olnick Spanu Collection, Magazzino, New York NY [travelled to: Musei Civici, Cagliari, Italy]
Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Arte Povera: Homage to Amalfi ’68, Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia PA
Arte Povera. A Creative Revolution, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
A Mind of Winter, Giorgio Pace Projects, Samedan, Switzerland
2017
Voyage, curated by Alexandre da Cunha, Galeria Bergamin & Gomide, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Contingencies: Arte Povera and After, Luxembourg & Dayan, New York NY
It’s Just a Beginning, 1968. National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy
Margherita Stein: Rebel With a Cause, Magazzino Italian Art, New York NY
Plages, Campoli Presti, London, England
2016
Identity Revisited, The Warehouse, Dallas TX
Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, Los Angeles CA
L’Inarchiviabile/The Unarchivable, FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Marisa and Mario Merz. Sto con quella curva di quella montagna che vedo riflessa in questo lago di vetro, MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, Italy
2015
TUTTTOVERO, Fondazione Merz and Castello di Rivoli, Turino, Italy
Ennesima. An Exhibition of Seven Exhibitions on Italian Art (Ennesima: Una mostra di sette mostre sull’arte italiana), Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
Basico III, Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, Torre Pellice, Italy
La Grande Madre, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
Proportio, Museo Fortuny, Venice, Italy
Holy MisterY. Il Sacro ed il Mistero (The Sacred and the Mystery in Contemporary Art), Centro Congressi Santo Volto, Turin, Italy
2014
Group Exhibition, Bernier-Eliades Gallery, Athens, Greece
Looking Back: The Eighth White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York NY
Intenzione manifesta. Il disegno in tutte le sue forme, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy
Trame, Triennale, Milan, Italy
Limites sem Limites. Desenhos e Traços da Arte Povera, Fundação Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre, Brazil
69/96, Gebert Stiftung für Kultur, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland
2013
Mind is Outer Space, Casey Kaplan, New York NY
Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, The 55th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Anni ’70. Arte a Roma, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
2012
Arte Povera: Aus der Sammlung des Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Dormitorio Pubblico, Campoli Presti, Paris, France; Campoli Presti, London, England
Arte Povera in Città, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
Spirits of Internationalism: 6 European Collections, 1956-1986, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands; Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium
2011
Arte Povera in Teatro, Teatro Margherita, Bari, Italy
Arte Povera più Azioni Povere 1968, MADRE Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy
Arte Povera 1967-2011, Triennale, Milan, Italy
Arte Povera International, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy
Arte Povera 1968, MAMbo, Bologna, Italy
TRA. Edge of Becoming, Museo Fortuny, Venice, Italy
Arte Povera in Moscow. Works from the collection of the Castello di Rivoli, MAMM Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
2010
Ergo, materia. Arte Povera, MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
Keep Your Seat, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Basico. Moto perpetuo, Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, Torre Pellice, Italy
Che fare? Arte Povera: Die historischen Jahre, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
2009
Visage, New Galerie de France, Paris, France
Orientamento, Galleria Cardi, Pietrasanta, Italy
Hot Spots. Rio de Janeiro / Milano-Torino / Los Angeles, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
I Classici del contemporaneo, Villa Pisani, Stra, Italy
2008
Revolutions – Forms that Turn, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2007
Makers and Modelers: Works in Ceramic, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
2006
Wrestle, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies and Hessel Museum of Art,
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York NY
2002
Arte Povera, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York NY
2001
Zero to Infinity: Arte Povera 1962-1972, Tate Modern, London; travelled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
49th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1998
Marisa Merz, Domenico Bianchi, Christian Stein Gallery, Milan, Italy
1995
Die italienische Metamorphose, 1943-1968, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
1994
The Italian Metamorphosis,1943-1968, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York NY
1989
Bilderstreit, Messehallen, Cologne, Germany
Einleuchten, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
1988
Zeitlos, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
1987
Octobre des Arts, Musée Saint Pierre Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
Italienische Zeichnungen, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany [travelled to: Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Modena, Italy]
Torino 1965-1987. De l’Arte Povera dans les collections publiques françaises, Musée Savoisien, Chambéry, France
1986
Chambres d’Amis, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent, Belgium
Fideliter, 1966-1986, Christian Stein Gallery, Turin, Italy
Sonsbeek 86: Internationale Beelden Tentoonstellung/International Sculpture Exhibition, Park Sonsbeek, Arnhem, Netherlands
SkulpturSein, Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
42nd International Art Exhibition: Arte e Scienza - Wunderkammer: artisti di oggi e Camere delle meraviglie; Arte e alchimia, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Sculture da camera, Gipsoteca del Castello Svevo, Bari, Italy [travelled to: Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA]
De Sculptura, Wiener festwochen im Messepalast, Vienna, Austria
1985
Del arte povera a 1985, Palazio Velazques, Palazio de Cristal, Madrid, Spain
The KNOT Arte Povera at P.S.1, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York NY
Promenades, Parc Lullin, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
De Sculptura, Messepalast, Vienna
Spuren, Skulpturen, und Monumente ihrer praezisen Reise, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
1984
Gallery Albert Baronian, Brussels, Belgium
Ouverture/Arte Contemporanea, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
Coerenza in coerenza: dall'Arte Povera al 1984, Mole Antonelliana, Turin, Italy
1983
Eine Kunst-Geschichte in Turin 1959- 1983, Gallery Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf, Germany; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1982
Documenta 7, Kassel, Germany
1981
Identité Italienne: l'art en Italie depuis 1959, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1980
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
1979
Le stanze, Castello Colonna, Genazzano, Italy
1978
Gallery Franco Toselli, Milan, Italy
1977
Arte in Italia 1960-1977, Gallery Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin, Italy; Galleria Salvatore, Milan, Italy
1976
Autori vari per Europa-America, Gallery Franz Paludetto- LP220, Turin, Italy
1975
Mostra per le fabbriche occupate, Gallery Multipli, Turin, Italy
1974
Gallery Franco Toselli, Milan, Italy
1970
Gennaio 70, III Biennale della Pittura Giovane, Museo Civico, Bologna, Italy
1969
Aeroporto di Ciampino, Rome
Op Losse Schroeven, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Verbogene Strukturen, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
1968
Arte Povera + Azione Povera, Arsenali dell'Antica Republica, Amalfi, Italy; Centro Studio Colautti, Salerno, Italy
1967
Piper Club, Turin, Italy
Deposito d'Arte presente, Turin, Italy
Public collections
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin, Italy
Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, Switzerland
D.Daskalopoulos Collection, Halandri, Greece
Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy
Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Glenstone Museum, Potomac MD
Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein, Vaduz, Lichtenstein
MAXXI Collection, Rome, Italy
Museo Madre, Naples, Italy
The Museum of Modern Art, New York NY
Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia PA
Rachofsky Collection, Dallas TX
Tate Collection, London, England
V-A-C Foundation, Moscow, Russia
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN
Awards
2013
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement – 55th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia
2001
La Biennale di Venezia – Special Jury Prize