There is a dividing line between music, often seen as popular and low-brow, and fine art which aspires to lofty, often elitist heights. But neither endeavour is kept (wholly) by gatekeepers and the best stuff always sits at the edge available to all with ears to listen and eyes to see.
The competition with prizes for Art and Music promises under aegis of Fondazione Merz has a lot of promise. Can it escape the boundaries of art and music? We wait to see.
Press release: Mario Merz Prize 5th Edition
Fondazione Merz is pleased to present an exhibition of the five finalists selected for the Art Section of the Mario Merz Prize’s 5th Edition: Elena Bellantoni (Italy), Mohamed Bourouissa (France/Algeria), Anna Franceschini (Italy), Voluspa Jarpa (Chile) and Agnes Questionmark (Italy).
The exhibition unfolds as a journey through the diverse works of the five finalists, each of whom stands out for their artistic research and choice of materials, while sharing certain points of intersection, particularly a shared focus on the body, interpreted and translated in distinct ways by each artist.
The works on display invite total immersion, encouraging visitors to engage their senses afresh in the exploration of each artist’s personal vision of society. Each contribution highlights a specific theme or nuance, offering different perspectives on contemporary experience.
The journey begins with Elena Bellantoni’s video installation, a powerful and thought-provoking reflection on popular uprisings in four countries united by the image of the ‘breadline’, where bread becomes not just sustenance, but a symbol laden with social and cultural meaning.
In Agnes Questionmark’s installation, the artist uses her own body as a site of confrontation, transforming it into a political medium that directly challenges the structures of power at play in today’s world.
Voluspa Jarpa welcomes us into a synaesthetic experience, where her work unfolds through visual and auditory elements that summon echoes of past events, placing them in dialogue with both the present and the future.
Anna Franceschini returns to the image of the body represented in the form of a machine. Here too, movement is central, linking back to its cinematic nature, with the aim of confirming that cinema and its illusion can also be found elsewhere.
Finally, Mohamed Bourouissa continues the reflection on the body and social dynamics, confirming them as the exhibition’s central concern. In his video work, he investigates themes of control, bodily expropriation, and the mechanisms of dominance within state structures. This inquiry is then given concrete form through a group of cast aluminium sculptures, where the body’s marks and gestures are rendered visible, releasing long-held tension and emotion.
Through these varied artistic languages and materials, the exhibition becomes a space for renewed reflection and critique of contemporary society, a platform for discussion, encounter and open dialogue.
The artists were shortlisted by members of the pre-selection judging panel, Claudia Gioia (Independent Curator), Samuel Gross (Special Project Manager del Musée d’Art e d’Histoire of Geneve) and Beatrice Merz (President, Fondazione Merz).
The public is invited to vote for their favourite artist by logging onto the website (mariomerzprize.org) to view and judge the artwork online. The public vote will be added to the votes cast by the Jury, whose members are: Manuel Borja-Villel (Author and Independent Curator), Massimiliano Gioni (Head Curator New Museum, New York – Art Director Fondazione Trussardi, Milan), Caroline Bourgeois (curator Pinault Collection, Paris), and Beatrice Merz.
The winner will be commissioned to produce a new site-specific solo exhibition at Fondazione Merz.
The only international prize for art and music
The finalists exhibition, Art section 11 June – 21 September 2025
Opening: 11 June, 7 pm
Fondazione Merz, Via Limone 24, Torino
www.mariomerzprize.org www.fondazionemerz.org
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
