Albert Mertz

Albert Mertz was a Danish Constructivist and a leading artist in the Linien II artists association, a group of Danish artists, active in the 1930s and 1940s, that worked in symbolist and abstract styles. Mertz is best known for his systematic experiments with the colours red and blue, that he termed ‘red/​blue proposition’ and began producing in 1968. Reaching its final form as a rectangle in 1971, the proposition was made up of multiple media formats and scale, found or reused materials, or painted directly onto exhibition walls. In his studies, Metrz navigated abstract purity while approaching it with humour and play by introducing figurative elements, such as a profile of a face, a house, or a chair. Challenging the painting by producing paintings, Metrz tested the essence of the medium as a means of representation, stripping off everything but colour and shape. By disrespecting the tradition of painting Metrz produced experimentations that are as bold conceptually as the two colours from which they are made. Written by Goldsmiths CCA