Her passage to painting in 1982 can be seen as the extension, within the pictorial space, of these questionings. Matter retains in her paintings the same vivacity. The trace of the artist's gestures and the sedimentation of paint layers bear witness to the sometimes long time involved in their conception. At that time she settles in Vienna and forms ties with several artists who share her concerns, such as Herbert Brandl, Otto Zitko, close to the Junge Wilde, or Franz West. She takes part in several exhibitions organised at Peter Pakesch's gallery, and is then invited to exhibit at Documenta IX, an international contemporary art event, in Kassel, in 1992.
An artist in motion, Mariella 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 colours and contrasts constantly call her practice into question, as her recent productions show, which demonstrate greater economy in the use of materials and a different relationship to relief. The presentation of this group of newly acquired works, acquired from the artist and from Peter Pakesch, bears witness to the intensity of this artistic research.