Jan Merta
11.06.–31.07.2010
Jan Merta
Ambiciózní fuga / Ambitious Fugue, 2008-2009
oil on canvas
260 x 230 cm
Jan Merta
ECHT, 2008
oil on canvas
250 x 210 cm
Jan Merta
Výložka / A Facing, 2006
oil on canvas
99,5 x 118,5 cm
Jan Merta
Chata (Červená slast) / Cottage (Red Bliss), 2009
acrylic on canvas
300 x 195 cm
Jan Merta
5 kusů malíře / Five Pieces of a Painter, 2008
oil on canvas
53 x 300 cm
Jan Merta
Exhibition View, Galerie Martin Janda, 2010
Jan Merta
Exhibition View, Galerie Martin Janda, 2010
Jan Merta
Exhibition View, Galerie Martin Janda, 2010
Jan Merta
Exhibition View, Galerie Martin Janda, 2010
Jan Merta
Opening: Thursday, June 10, 2010, 7 p.m.
Exhibition runs: 11.06. – 31.07.2010
Jan Merta is one of the most important Czech artists of our day. Merta works with classical image motifs. He shows everyday objects, which are transformed with respect to technique and content, and abstracted, their original meaning extracted. Merta’s painting always remains reserved. Through the small gestures, painterly details and often humorous titles, recognizable things are imbued with complex content. Mertareturns again and again to individual themes; often numerous variations of the same title ensue. The differences are usually minimal, but significant in content: “I work with variations to get closer to the theme.”
“Merta builds each painting as a completely independent entity and its subject matter, composition, meaning and execution aspire to send a special message, to build a universe of its own. The artist does not strive to create a ‘style’ that will encompass the totality of the world and become a cipher of the universe in a modernistic (or romantic) spirit, rather he works within an originality which, at any one moment, commands a specific approach and effect.” (Marek Pokorný)
Jan Merta, born 1952 in Sumperk, lives and works in Prag and České Lhotice.