Richard Merkle – Ein Minimalist aus Süddeutschland
With a loan from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection
The Mercedes-Benz Art Collection is supporting the exhibition ‘Richard Merkle – Ein Minimalist aus Süddeutschland’ with a loan from its collection.
About the exhibition: From Breuer to van der Rohe, from Wegner to Starck, the history of chair design in the 20th century reflects the endeavor for a perfect combination of function and form. The wall chairs, certainly Richard Merkle’s most famous object, differ from the aforementioned predecessors in many important aspects. Unsuitable for mass production, they are art objects and appear as geometric color panels until a hidden mechanism folds the colored surfaces into a rather spartan chair shape. The object is perceived through use. At the time of their creation, the color combinations could be chosen by the client. Small painted wooden panels served as models for this, but these are equally valid as independent works of art. Their coloring is inspired by the Düsseldorf painter Imi Knoebel. Indeed, one must claim prominent teachers and role models for Richard Merkle: Achim Kubinski, the legendary Stuttgart gallerist, Joseph Kosuth, the American conceptual artist, whose assistant he was for several years – to name just these two. His work, however, is genuine, sophisticated, meticulous, independent, and ranks among the best of what contemporary art represents. (Esslinger Kunstverein e.V. in der Villa Merkel)