Mary Obering's First European Institutional Survey Opens in Rome

The Fondazione Giuliani in Rome is hosting a major solo exhibition of American minimalist Mary Obering (1937–2022), featuring over twenty works, some of considerable size, alongside display cases with her photographs and handwritten notes. This is Obering's first exhibition at a European institution, a surprising fact given her five-decade career and sustained engagement with European and Asian aesthetics. The show spans three decades, from 1973 to 1998, tracing her evolution from acrylics to egg tempera, gold leaf, and black clay. Her work uniquely blends minimalism with Eurasian art historical references, using brown tones unusual for American minimalists and combining geometric flatness with high-relief protrusions. Some pieces evoke mandalas via Italian Renaissance floor patterns, while others appear as collaborations between Barnett Newman and Alberto Burri. The exhibition is curated by Pericle Guaglianone and runs at the Fondazione Giuliani.