Mario Merz: La natura è l’equilibrio

Mario Merz. La natura è l’equilibrio (Nature is the balance) exhibition fits into the Fondazione’s programme which foresees exhibitions dedicated to the work of Mario and Marisa Merz, and follows on from the inaugural one in the Fondazione in 2005, and the thematic ones that came thereafter: in 2007 on the artist’s drawing, in 2010 on painting and on the links with architectural design in 2011.

For this project, about a dozen important works made between the mid-1970s and the 2000s have been carefully selected, including drawings, paintings, neon, igloos and installations; the works are combined with some texts shown on the walls and which come from the artist’s notes, books or extracts from his interviews.
The exhibition aims to create an exhibition made of images, but also and above all a poetic narrative, an image-filled account of an eclectic artist who was also in some ways a writer, mathematician and biologist…
The layout highlights the artist’s interest in the plant and animal worlds; his research focused on the relationship between nature and culture, on the constant observation of growth processes, of the fundamental laws that govern the universe, because living on earth means to observe and participate in its evolution.
The exhibition unfolds to reveal the balance associated with the shape of the spiral, mathematics and time, numerical and productive progression. The viewer is immersed in a landscape of forms, figures and words in an attempt to reorganise the pairing between culture and nature. To round off the exhibition, the visitor will see some some display cases containing sketches, notebooks and small unpublished drawings.