Vera Mercer

Crab and Cabbage

2020

The works of American photographer VERA MERCER (born 1936 in Berlin, lives and works in Omaha and Paris) are complex to grasp. It began in the 1960s in Paris with portraits of her then husband Daniel Spoerri, who, like her, initially trained in dance, and other members of the Fluxus group and the Nouveaux Réalistes. She not only documented the works of Jean Tinguely, Eva Aeppli, Marcel Duchamp, Niki de Saint-Phalle and Daniel Spoerri, but also took portraits of the artists. Parallel to these portraits, she also photographed the old Parisian market halls shortly before their demolition. It was here that she first encountered a theme that has preoccupied her ever since: Fruit, vegetables, meat and fish in its rawest and freshest form. In the 1970s, she took a long creative break. But since the beginning of the new century, she has been capturing breathtaking neo-baroque still lifes consisting of flowers, fruit, freshly hunted animals, antique glasses and illuminating candles in large picture formats. Vera Mercer sensually and aesthetically combines crayfish, fish, game and poultry with flowers and fresh vegetables. The pictures, bathed in mystical light, represent a new interpretation of classic vanitas motifs with their burning candles and artistic arrangements. Some of her large-format still lifes captivate their viewers with their opulence and rich colors, conveying a zest for life as well as a sense of the past. A visual and artistic delight, especially thanks to the high-quality watercolor paper she uses, which gives the works a velvety surface.