Fondazione Merz, Turin

Housed within a refurbished 1930’s industrial space that once operated as the heating plant of the Lancia factory in the currently regenerating Borgo San Paolo district of Turin. Both privately and publically funded (by the City of Torino and Region Piemonte) it occupies an area of 3,200 m2 over three floors including open air exhibition space, extensive library focused on Modern Art history and critique also encompassing the Merz Archives and hosts an active education department supporting scholars and the inspiring the general public.

The foundation was created by and initially presided over by Beatrice Merz, designed with her father Mario Merz (b. 1925 d. 2003). It collaborates with an international ‘scientific committee’ including Vicente Todolí (artistic advisor at Hangar Bicocca, Milano), Frances Morris (Director at Tate Modern, London), Richard Flood (Director of Special Projects & Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, New York). Beatrice Merz, an acclaimed curator, publisher and former director of Association of Italian Museums of Contemporary Art, is the daughter of Marisa and Mario Merz, who themselves were both hugely influential artists (largely sculptural works) and founding members of the Arte Povera movement. Mario Merz amassed a significant back catalogue of works over his long and productive career, which included major retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1975, and the Guggenheim Museum, New York in 1989. One of Marisa Merz’s works - a large scale ceiling-suspended sculpture crafted from strips and coils of aluminium, was acquired by Tate Modern in 2009.

The museum seeks showcase the Merz collection in conjunction with the work of globally influential contemporary artists and collaborate widely with other international institutions to achive their aim. This artistic influence extends to music as well as the visual arts, as celebrated in the biennial Mario Merz Prize which celebrates cutting edge talent across both fields throughout Italy and Switzerland. Fondazione Merz also coordinates a program of summer arts events the ‘Meteorite in Giardino Festival’, celebrating multiple contemporary cultural disciplines.

Fondazione Merz

Via Limone, 24, 10141 Torino, Italy