Emanuela Marassi

Critical text

Emanuela Marassi (b. 1941, Muggia) studied painting at first, and then entered the workshop of Pietro Dal Grande, a Venetian master of marquetry. She opened her own workshop and since 1961 she has worked on interior design projects for public spaces and ships. With Avgust Cernigoj, an important figure of Slovenian constructivism, she learned to tame materials. "Nothing is impossible", he is said to have told her. He was a problematic figure, however, who pushed his pupil into incessant disputes. After five years of this ambiguous relationship, Marassi rebelled and began to paint everything pink. It was the moment of the rise of feminism in Europe, and she felt the need to break away, to do something she considered more meaningful. Since the late 1960s, she has exhibited in Italy and abroad, working with applied arts, then with painting, collage and contemporary experimentation, relying on unusual materials such as copper and embroidery, cellophane and crystal. She has also made large-scale installations and video art. Marassi founded the women's artist group Marebagroup (1974) with the Australian artist Barbara Strathdee and the Austrian artist Renate Bertlmann. Working on the strength and resurgence of symbols, she has developed multiple thematic series that have been reworked and recombined over the years. One of the major motifs addressed by the artist in works, performances and videos concerns the rite of marriage and its fragility throughout life.

Text by Mouna Mekouar