South likes: Alfredo Jaar at Fondazione Merz, Turin

South likes: Alfredo Jaar at Fondazione Merz, Turin
Abbiamo amato tanto la rivoluzione (We loved it so much, the revolution)
Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy
5 November, 2013 – 2 February, 2014

Abbiamo amato tanto la rivoluzione (We loved it so much, the revolution) is the new solo exhibition by artist-filmmaker-architect Alfredo Jaar, who recently represented Chile at the 55th Venice Biennale. Especially conceived for Fondazione Merz, the show begins with an impressive large-scale installation made of millions of pieces of broken glass and mirror on the floor, covering most of the main exhibition space. The surface of these fragments reflects Jaar’s neon writing Abbiamo amato tanto la rivoluzione. The direct reference is to Mario Merz’s neon phrase Sciopero generale azione politica relativa proclamata relativamente all’arte (General strike political action relative proclaimed relatively to art), made in 1970, which is displayed in a second space. Jaar’s works cover entirely some walls of the gallery in juxtaposition with works by other artists, such as Valie Export, Hans Haacke, Yves Klein, Joseph Kosuth, underscoring the sense of memory and political participation and inviting us to explore the relations between culture and democratic life, both in our history and our present.

Eleanna Papathanasiadi

http://fondazionemerz.org/en/exhibitions/abbiamo-amato-tanto-la-rivoluzione/