Mariella Simoni

The distinctive artistic trajectory of Mariella Simoni (born 1948) revisits the intersections between conceptual art and abstraction, between poetry and matter. Originating from the Lake Garda region in Italy, the artist studied art history in Parma, as well as philosophy and psychoanalysis. Her early works, in the mid-1970s, affirm her interest in organic developments and the movement of the living, employing unbalanced objects or plants invading exhibition spaces.

Her shift to painting in 1982 can be seen as the prolongation into the pictorial space of these inquiries. The material retains in her canvases that same vivacity. The trace of the artist’s gestures and the sedimentation of paint layers bear witness to the sometimes lengthy temporality of their conception. She moved to Vienna at that time and formed connections with several artists who shared her concerns, such as Herbert Brandl, Otto Zitko, associated with the Junge Wilde, or Franz West. She participated in several exhibitions organized at Peter Pakesch’s gallery, and was then invited to exhibit at Documenta IX, the international contemporary art exhibition, in Kassel, in 1992.

A nomadic artist, Simoni’s work evolves across the cities where she stays: Athens, Paris, Ghent, New York. She occasionally turns to sculpture or installation. Variations in formats, supports, dominant color schemes and contrasts challenge her practice, as shown by her recent works, which demonstrate an economy in the use of materials and a different relationship to relief. The presentation of this set of newly acquired works from the artist and Peter Pakesch at the MAM, the Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris, testifies to this artistic research.