Mario Merz (Milan, 1925 – Turin, 2003) was one of the leading representatives of Arte Povera. His works are held in important Italian collections, such as the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rivoli, MAXXI in Rome, the National Museum of Capodimonte, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.
Merz was born in Milan and raised in Turin, where he attended the Faculty of Medicine for a couple of years. At the end of World War II, however, he decided to devote himself exclusively to painting, encouraged by critic Luciano Pistoi. While his early works, mainly oil on canvas, focused on an abstract-expressionist style, he later shifted toward a more informal treatment of painting. His first solo exhibition was held in 1954 at Galleria La Bussola in Turin.
In the mid-1960s, Merz decided to abandon painting to explore unconventional materials such as neon tubes, iron, wax, and stone. He was an active participant from the outset in the inaugural Arte Povera exhibitions, notably the first, curated by Germano Celant at Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa (1967), as well as subsequent group shows featuring artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giuseppe Penone, and Luciano Fabro, often convened at Gian Enzo Sperone’s gallery in Turin. By 1968, Merz transcended the two-dimensionality of canvas, beginning the creation of his Igloo series: evocative structures made from various materials including stones, branches, and neon.
A few years later, he introduced another hallmark element into his oeuvre: the Fibonacci sequence. This numerical progression, also known as the Golden Ratio, is characterized by each number being the sum of the two preceding ones. This sequence, often manifested geometrically as a spiral, is a recurring reference in his work, alongside the simple numeric succession: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so forth.
Merz perceived the Fibonacci series as a symbol of the innate energy within matter and the organic process of growth, highlighting its significance on multiple occasions. Notably, he incorporated it into his light installation Il volo dei numeri, installed on a wall of the Mole Antonelliana in Turin (2000), integrated it into the walls of San Casciano in Val di Pesa alongside a sculpture of a deer (1997), and on the chimney of the Turku Energia power plant in Finland (1994). Even earlier works showcased this fascination, evident at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1971), the Mole Antonelliana (1984), and the Castello di Rivoli (1994).
In 1992, Merz unveiled the first Uovo Filosofico in the atrium of Zurich Central Station. These red spirals, created from neon tubes, are adorned with suspended animals bearing Fibonacci numbers. In 1970, Merz introduced Tavolo, another quintessential and archetypal element of his work. By the mid-1970s, he began creating composite installations, intricately assembling igloos, neon elements, and tables. Fruits arranged atop these surfaces introduced the dimension of real-time passage as they naturally decayed.
In the late 1970s, Merz revisited pictorial figuration, sketching large-scale images of crocodiles, rhinos, and iguanas directly onto unframed canvases. Numerous national and international exhibitions have been dedicated to him since the early 1970s. Highlights include shows at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (1972), Kunsthalle Basel (1981), Moderna Museet in Stockholm (1983), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (1989), Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona (1993), Castello di Rivoli and Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci (1990), Galleria Civica in Trento (1995), and Carré d’Art in Nîmes (2000). In recognition of his contributions, Merz was awarded the Praemium Imperiale by the Emperor of Japan in 2003.
Since 2005, the Turin-based foundation bearing his name has been entrusted with preserving and promoting Merz’s legacy, including managing his archives.
