On a wet November morning I trudged through Kensington Gardens to find what looked at first to be a closed gallery. There were cranes and men in overalls removing the Sou Fujimoto pavilion. At the front gate was what appeared to be a hairy-arsed builder in boots and hi-viz. When he spoke he miraculously morphed into an effete gallery guy. First impressions are not always right.
And first impressions of the Mertz show were similarly misleading - my initial though on entering was ‘oh dear this is going to be very worthy and very dull’. But I was wrong as this is a delightful exhibition where many subtle understated works are nicely spiced by the occasional more baroque piece. The work often appears unfinished or haphazard - but on more careful appraisal it is controlled and very much complete. For instance, there are multiple pieces comprised of small lumps of clay caressed by folded lead sheet. I assumed they were abstract until I spotted an carefully moulded ear on one of them. The conceptual became figurative in front of my eyes.
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| Unfortunately the air-con was broken |
There are a series of water colours and pastels showing beautiful soft smudgy faces. One is like a playful teddy bear. Its lovely (am I allowed to say that about ‘serious’ art ?).
One impressive piece is a large blue and silver canvas. It has a metal frame and relief details that make it as much sculptural as painted. At its centre is a part obscure image of a woman - with head scarf and plaintive look it most definitely alludes to Christian iconography.
There’s even craft afoot with a repeated motif of handkerchief sized crocheted wire. One is of distorted squares that form circles - the negative space describing the pattern as much as the objects (that’s an interesting thought - one that can be applied to the composition of my own work perhaps ?)
My favourite piece was a large scale pencil drawing of a woman’s face. It was monochrome except for large splashes of lemon. When was the last time you got the lemon paint out ?
