20 Menoc Hotel
La Casa
Colored pencil and collage on paper, 41 ✗ 50 cm
Mario Merz, an artist associated with Arte Povera, explores the transcendence of the frame and two-dimensionality. In 1968, he introduced his first igloo, a type of habitat that allowed the artist to create a personal space within any museum or exhibition venue and to propose a landscape within it. This primitive form of construction, akin to a shelter, enabled him to develop a relationship with the world centered around the concept of concentration.
In addition to this exploration, from 1976 onward, he introduced the concept of proliferation in the form of the spiral: an expanding form in space that also symbolizes time and infinity. "La Casa" embodies all of these investigations. By abolishing the flatness of the canvas, Mario Merz incorporates a snail shell, an animal element that synthesizes habitat and spiral. The presence of this shell asserts multiple dimensions in one gesture: the living, habitat, space, and time.
Artist
The approach of Mario Merz, Arte Povera artist, explores going beyond the frame and the two-dimensional. In 1968, his first igloo appeared, a mode of housing which allows the artist to create a clean space in any museum or exhibition space and to establish a landscape proposal there. This type of primitive construction, a sort of shelter, allows him to develop a relationship with the world based on the idea of concentration.
In addition to this reflection, he proposed, in 1976, the concept of proliferation in the form of the spiral: an expanding form in space, it also symbolizes time and infinity.
La Casa condenses all of this research. Abolishing the flatness of the painting, Mario Merz integrates a snail shell, an animal element which synthesizes the habitat and the spiral. The presence of this shell affirms in a single gesture a multiple presence: the living, the habitat, space and time.
Source: Frac Poitou-Charentes notice
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