First Posthumous Exhibition of Marisa Merz at Collezione Olgiati in Lugano

Collezione Olgiati in Lugano presents the first posthumous exhibition of Marisa Merz (Turin, 1926–2019), titled 'Geometrie sconnesse palpiti geometrici'. The show spans four rooms and functions as a mini-retrospective, featuring 45 untitled works arranged without chronological order. The installation is composed like a musical score, alternating moments of silence with intense rhythms. Merz died shortly before the opening but actively contributed to the project. The exhibition highlights contrasts between rationality and poetry, hardness and malleability—for instance, a 1994 installation combining a metal table with a paraffin violin, and a 1979 wall piece made of knitted copper wire. Small sculpted heads showcase cynicism and empathy, while recent large-scale expressionist paintings surprise with vivid colors and verticality. A wall of small drawings and assemblages explores hypothetical human faces, sometimes with parodic tones. The exhibition emphasizes Merz's anti-linear yet coherent artistic project, where Arte Povera is seen as concrete proximity to the human condition, and lyricism acknowledges the transient nature of individuals without being apolitical. Imperfections and frayed edges are central to her expressive core.