Gerhard Merz (born 1947) decided early on to reject the mimetic depiction of the real world in favor of the autonomy of pure color and form, a decision crucially determined by his engagement with the ideals of early 20th century abstract art, the writings of Barnett Newman on the sublime and Ad Reinhardt’s discourse on art-as-art. The primary aim of Gerhard Merz’s art is the experience of the sublime, i.e., engendering a reflective process of insight that is free from any spiritual or transcendental encumbrances. The light rooms he creates, like the pavilion, are not meant for meditation, but serve to reveal the aesthetic function of art.

This publication, in reference to his 2007 exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Bregenz, introduces, among other things, his monochrome paintings as well as works from his Archipittura – painting that is architecturally defined and architecture conceived as painting.