“There has never been any division between my life and my work,” Merz once claimed. She is the only female member of the Italian movement Arte Povera, which was known for the use of unconventional or commonplace materials such as rocks, concrete, or, in this case, hemp. Though the body itself is absent in the work, it is repeatedly invoked, not only in the sculpture’s human scale but also in the hair-like hanks of fiber threaded through the metal grid. A cage, a column, a container, something directed inward—the open-ended title invites innumerable references and associations to be projected onto this ambiguous object.
Gallery label from "Collection: 1940s—1970s", 2019
