A double date in Turin for the major retrospective dedicated to the work of Mario Merz (Milan, 1925-2003). Curated by Pier Giovanni Castagnoli, Ida Gianelli and the artist’s daughter Beatrice, the show is organised in two locations. At GAM there is the early work, with his first-one man show in Turin at the Bussola gallery, together with work connected to the presence of nature, such as La Foglia from 1952.

In 1965 Merz abandoned painting and discovered new forms of expression using neon; in Città irreale (1968), he traces imaginary confines with a triangular metal frame containing luminous text. The installation at Castello di Rivoli concentrates instead on the 1960s (the Igloo period) and 1970s, with the appearance in his work of archetypal animal shapes such as in the Iguana from 1971. L.B.

12.1.2005-27.3.2005
Mario Merz
GAM, T +39-011-9565280
Castello di Rivoli, T +39-011-4429518
Torino