Mario Merz Numbers are Prehistoric - Museum of Cycladic Art

ΤΗΕ ΕΧΗΙΒΙΤΙΟΝ

The title of this exhibition is a phrase taken from Mario Merz’s book I Want to Make a Book Right Now (1989): ‘I numeri sono preistorici’. The statement reflects the urgency that animated the artist and his total dedication to and engagement with art, politics, and life.

Numbers Are Prehistoric addresses various key aspects of Merz’s (1925-2003) oeuvre. A large section of the show was dedicated to his writings, which were introduced as a full-fledged artistic proposition. The exhibition was introduced, on the ground floor of the Stathatos Mansion, by Igloo con albero (“Igloo with Tree”) (1969), an iconic form that recurs in the artist’s work and stands for his preoccupation with basic human needs: shelter, food, and the essential relationship with nature.

Works on paper accompanying the installations on both floors, along with original manuscripts of a number of texts and drawings in vitrines, witness Merz’s mastery as both painter and writer. Spanning from 1973 to 1990, they are a testament to the artist’s relentless search for the right and immediate response to his river of thoughts as well as to the flux that characterized Italy in the latter part of the twentieth century.