“I HAVE WATER IN MY EYES”

LONE MERTZ
“I HAVE WATER IN MY EYES”

Stalke Galleri presented an exhibition of new works by Lone Mertz.

Stalke therefore welcomed a more traditional exhibition of painting and photo montage. Lone Mertz had not shown this part of her practice separately since 1990, the year of the death of her then husband, the painter Albert Mertz.

Lone Mertz’s paintings were inspired by experiences of nature: flowers as large as the human body, falling water in gold and silver, transparent water surfaces, and monochrome image planes that created pauses and calm within the visual flow. During her travels to the East and to Iceland, she photographed extensively. These photographs formed the point of departure for several works in the exhibition. Living on an island, she had always resided close to the sea and consistently painted it. The element of water appeared colorless, both transparent and reflective.

The paintings shown at Stalke were large in scale and related directly to the human body. The choice of materials and the treatment of paint were closely connected to the content presented. The painting process unfolded as an open-ended dialogue, a dynamic presence in the moment. At its best, the paintings seemed almost to have formed themselves, layer upon layer upon layer.

The works were created on canvas or windbreak material. The paint consisted of pigments allowed to flow into water and glue, combined with sand, kaolin, silver, handmade paint, and other available materials capable of materializing the content.

As a commentary on painting as part of life, a series of photo montages was also exhibited, often featuring snapshots of Albert Mertz. In these works, Lone Mertz looked back on an extension of her painting practice that she had begun in the 1980s. Reflecting on this, the American artist Lawrence Weiner remarked: “We all had water in our eyes.”

The exhibition was installed in collaboration with visual artist Marianne Xenia Lassen.

Lone Mertz, Stalke Galleri 2002

Exhibition view of Lone Mertz at Stalke Galleri, 2002

Kim Bendixen on the Lone Mertz exhibition

Stalke Galleri exhibition archive from 1987