Giorgio Verzotti Remembers Marisa Merz's Quiet Power

In a personal tribute published on Artribune, critic and curator Giorgio Verzotti recalls his respectful relationship with the late Italian artist Marisa Merz, a leading figure of Arte Povera. Verzotti notes that they always used the formal 'lei' with each other, a sign of the deep respect he held for her reserved nature. He describes visiting her home in Turin, where she would serve coffee on an old-style gas stove, and where the walls were covered with her paintings. Verzotti emphasizes that Merz's work—small in scale but radiating immense emotional force—demands prolonged, attentive observation. He highlights her shift after the death of her husband, Mario Merz, when she expanded the dimensions of her paintings and introduced more color, while her sculptures remained minute. Verzotti also recalls Merz's installation at Documenta 9 (1992), curated by Jan Hoet: a small wax relief on the floor of the Fridericianum, from which a weak but continuous jet of water sprang, which seemed to anchor the entire vast exhibition. The tribute is part of a series of remembrances of Marisa Merz, who died in 2019.