Francesca Benini – författare

The career of Swiss painter Hedi Mertens (1893–1982) differs in many respects from that of other artists of her time. Following a classical art education in Zurich and Munich, she moved primarily in intellectual milieus that brought her closer to the Constructivist-Concrete art movement, which had an epicentre in Zurich around Max Bill and Richard Paul Lohse. Lohse was one of Mertens’ most influential companions and interlocutors, together with Leo Leuppi, Arend Fuhrmann, and Helen Dahm, with whom she shared a deep fascination for the teachings of Indian guru Shri Meher Baba. At the age of 67, Mertens moved to Ticino, in southern Switzerland, where she finally let the manifold sources of inspiration flow into her own art. Within two decades Mertens created some 200 geometric-abstract paintings that urgently await their much-deserved appreciation.This first monograph on Hedi Mertens, published in conjunction with exhibitions at MASI Lugano and the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, brings the masterful art and eventful life of this Swiss painter into focus. It enables the rediscovery of a significant representative of Concrete art in Switzerland who has been overlooked too long.Text in Italian and German.

Louisa Gagliardi: Many Moons is published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at MASI Lugano. The work of Louisa Gagliardi blends traditional painting techniques with digital technology, exploring themes such as identity, social transformations, and the relationship between individuals and their environment through works imbued with a sense of ambiguity and mystery. This richly illustrated catalogue deepens the uncanniness of her practice thanks to contributions by Francesca Benini, the exhibition curator, along with Sara Catella, Noëmi Lerch, and Micah Schippa-Wildfong.