Meret Oppenheim

The exhibition at MASI is dedicated to Meret Oppenheim, shown here alongside major exponents of the Dada and Surrealist movements as well figures of the contemporary art scene.

The Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI) presents the exhibition “Meret Oppenheim, works in conversation. From Max Ernst to Mona Hatoum”, dedicated to one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century, shown here alongside major exponents of the Dada and Surrealist movements as well figures of importance on the contemporary art scene. With approximately one hundred works on display, the exhibition dedicated to the artist documents her entire career, from her debut in Paris in the early 1930s to her experience with non-figurative art in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Meret Oppenheim, Vogel mit Parasit, 1939. Olio su tavola, 10.5x15 cm. Collezione privata — **Top:** Meret Oppenheim, Die Erlkönigin, 1940. oil on cardboard, 68.5x50.5 cm. Private collection
**Above:** Meret Oppenheim, Vogel mit Parasit, 1939. oil on board, 10.5x15 cm. Private collection

The works exhibited reveal the close-knit relationships between Meret and the older and often already established artists of that day and age; most importantly, however, they underscore the independence of this artist, who was close to Surrealism not because she wished to emulate it, but because she saw in Breton’s movement the expression of a sensibility that was similar to her own: “It is not I who looked for the Surrealists, it is they who found me”. The exhibition thus releases Meret Oppenheim from the image of muse and model that has often unfairly obscured her work in the past.

Meret Oppenheim, Bon Appetit, Marcel, 1966. Mixed materials, 32x32x10 cm. Private collection — Meret Oppenheim, *Bon Appetit, Marcel*, 1966. mixed materials, 32x32x10 cm. Private collection

The exhibition is organized around several theme-based sections each of which casts light on a different aspect of and moment in the artist’s creative process: from the relationship and intense exchange of ideas that, upon arriving in Paris in the 1930s, she entertained with her fellow Dadaists and Surrealists, to the abstract compositions of the 1970s.

Meret Oppenheim, Die Waldfrau, 1939. Oil on pavatex, 28x37.5 cm. Private collection — Meret Oppenheim, *Die Waldfrau*, 1939. Oil on pavatex, 28x37.5 cm. Private collection

11 February – 28 May 2017
Meret Oppenheim, opere in dialogo. Da Max Ernst a Mona Hatoum
curated by Guido Comis e Maria Giuseppina Di Monte
MASI LAC
Piazza Luini 6, Lugano

Meret Oppenheim

The exhibition at MASI is dedicated to Meret Oppenheim, shown here alongside major exponents of the Dada and Surrealist movements as well figures of the contemporary art scene.

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