Mario Merz retrospective opens at Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid has opened a major retrospective of Mario Merz (1925–2003), a leading figure of Arte Povera, at the Palacio de Velázquez in Retiro Park. Titled "Il tempo è muto" (Time Is Silent), the exhibition runs until March 29, 2020, and features around sixty works, many large-scale, including the iconic transparent igloo "Goccia d'acqua" (1987) from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Loans come from the Fondazione Merz in Turin, Tate, Centre Pompidou, Castello di Rivoli, and private collectors. The show is curated by Manuel Borja-Villel, director of the Reina Sofía, in collaboration with the Fondazione Merz. Borja-Villel noted that despite Merz's international fame from the 1960s to the 1990s—exhibiting at biennials and Documenta—he never had a comprehensive retrospective in Spain. The artist's daughter Beatrice Merz attributed his posthumous obscurity to market dynamics and the complexity of his work. The exhibition deliberately avoids chronological or thematic order, reflecting Merz's rejection of biographical and temporal references. Additionally, a six-meter-tall outdoor installation "Bottiglia rovesciata" (Inverted Bottle) is on view at the Italian Embassy in Madrid. The show includes rarely exhibited pieces such as "Declaration des droits de l'homme et du Citoyen" (1989). Admission is free.