Marta Margnetti

18 October—16 November 2019

galerie lange + pult is pleased to present a new young position in Zurich: Marta Margnetti (*1989).

The Swiss artist Marta Margnetti develops her artistic practice at the intersection between applied art, design and craftsmanship. In her artistic process she uses appropriation, sculpture, printing techniques and performance. Her works often have a multifaceted relationship with the surrounding architecture and enter into a dialogue with it. The modular formal language of her works recall minimalism, while the traces of Margnetti’s craftsmanship as small arbitrary mistakes enter into a common field of tension with geometric perfection.

“Basics” is an ongoing series of sculptures made out of iron. The engravings and accidental scratches as well as the halos left by the welding are accentuated by the application of a thin layer of coal powder. On the top of the works one can find imperceptible or hidden etchings by the artist.

“Ecken”, a work consisting of eight wooden angles, reflects the movement of minimalism. The artist accentuates the movements failed attempt to avoid the ornamental by transforming the diagonal strut, which originally served as a functional element of stability, into a purely decorative element and thereby robbing it of all functionality.

The ceramic work “Offcuts” also touches on the architecture of the exhibition space and reinforces the link between the spatial division of the gallery by surrounding the retracted wall. “Ecken” and “Offcuts” seem to float between a do-it-yourself aesthetic and that of modern industrial design. Margnetti’s approach stands on the threshold between the mastery of a processing technique and the deliberate loss of control in order to permit coincidences and errors and thus create a balance between defined and potential forms. The tiny insect of cast bronze, which were reproduced as exact impressions of the animals found dead, catch your eye and let us reflect on our relationship with the environment.

Marta Margnetti (*1989), born in Mendrisio, lives and works in Lugano. Her works have been shown in various solo exhibitions. She has participated in important group exhibitions, including “Beehave”, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel (2018) and is represented in public collections such as the Collezione del Canton Ticino, the Julius Bär Art Collection and the Aargauer Kunsthaus. In 2017 Marta Margnetti was awarded with the Kiefer Hablitzel Award at the Swiss Art Awards.