Merta Jan *1952

Distinction, 1993

signed on the reverse Jan Merta, Distinkce, 1993, oil on canvas , 45,5 × 55 cm
In the first half of the 1990s, Jan Merta (b. 1952), a prominent artist of the postmodern generation, a number of key works in which he developed his typical painterly manuscript with records of ordinary objects and scenes on the borderline of of visible and hidden metaphysical space. Monumental paintings from this period were complemented by smaller works, paintings and watercolours, where Merta created on a small format and with minimal means, using spare and miniature details, a unique pictorial space whose point was often revealed by the title of the work. In the offered painting entitled Distinction we see on the surface canvas two isolated, seemingly disparate, abstract shapes. A colourful plastic illusory object in the left part of the painting has its equivalent in the right part, where the a similar shape appears as a flat grey geometric shape - a shadow. Meaning of these motifs is revealed by the title of the work, which may refer to both the bookmarks, indicating military rank on uniforms, or it can refer to difference - the way in which the same thing can be captured in different ways. Playing with the meanings and contents of seemingly abstract shapes, obscuring them and uncovering them, constitute a characteristic mode of Mert's artistic work.