Art News

Henry Moore Institute Opens First Solo Exhibition by Artist Mario Merz in the UK for Nearly Thirty Years

LEEDS.- This is the first solo exhibition by artist Mario Merz in the UK for nearly thirty years. It is also the first major show curated at the Henry Moore Institute by Lisa Le Feuvre, its new Head of Sculpture Studies. Mario Merz (1925 – 2003) was a leading figure of Arte Povera, a term referring to a loose grouping of Italian artists who turned their attention to their surrounding environment in the immediate post-war period. Merz rethought the possibilities of sculpture by observing the world around him. The title of this exhibition is a question central to Merz’s approach to art making. His work was driven by asking: what can an artist do in the face of a precarious future? Along with other Arte Povera artists, Merz turned away from representing modernity for its own sake, instead seeking to explore the role of art in day-to-day human experience, turning to materials that were ready at hand. In Merz’s case, these inc