Sebastian Merk

Sebastian Merk was born 1996 in Bad Homburg, Germany and currently
lives and works in Göttingen.

Like a musician or composer, Sebastian’s work is concerned primarily with
the expression of intense emotion. Composing with an explosive use of
color, his dynamic abstract canvases are both contemplations on the idea
of freedom and a fervent response to life’s stories and experiences.

"Colors, contrast, and movement merge to create a world that captivates the viewer. […] Memories […] lose details and become vague, blurred assemblages of pictures and emotions, like our dreams. […] I would describe my work as emotional landscapes—places that draw the viewer out of the current moment, a world you can move in."

quote: Sebastian Merk

Artworks by Sebastian Merk

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More information about the artist Sebastian Merk

  • Sebastian Merk was born 1996 in Bad Homburg, Germany and currently
    lives and works in Göttingen.

    Like a musician or composer, Sebastian’s work is concerned primarily with
    the expression of intense emotion. Composing with an explosive use of
    color, his dynamic abstract canvases are both contemplations on the idea
    of freedom and a fervent response to life’s stories and experiences.

    Sebastian works primarily in acrylic, acrylic-inks and blacklight UV-reactive
    paints, using palette knives, brushes, and his own hands. Switching
    between visible and UV light, his work reveals unseen worlds beyond the
    realm of everyday perception. Combining the Impressionists’ concern for
    light, the Surrealists’ fascination for dream worlds and the Abstract
    Expressionists’ exploration of emotion, he describes his paintings as worlds
    in and of themselves. Each “painting world” is constructed over time from
    layer upon layer of abstracted gestural marks, taking particular care to
    preserve contrast and luminosity. He is interested in the connections and
    correspondences within these worlds and how the formal characteristics of
    each work – the fissures and passages that form within the paintings and
    the experience of looking itself – might allow a momentary retreat from daily
    life.


    Exhibitions

    2024 Affordable Art Fair Battersea, Turner Art Perspective Gallery, London
    2024 Convergence, Galerie SLP, Berlin
    2023 Affordable Art Fair Battersea, Turner Art Perspective Gallery, London
    2023 Misa Edition “Beauty“
    2023 Group Show, Kurfürstendamm 210, Berlin
    2023 Turner Art Perspective Art Gallery, Shenfield, Essex
    2022 BAODT Pop Up Hamburg Hindenburghaus
    2022 Misa Edition “Wasserfall”
    2022 Galerie Allyoucanart, Munich
    2022 BAODT Pop Up Gallery, Frankfurt
    2022 Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, Noon Powell Fine Art Gallery, London
    2022 MEAJET BAODT Pop Up Gallery, St. Moritz
    2021 Sublime Stages BAODT Pop Up Gallery, Kitzbühel
    2021 Kunstring/SÉVIGNÉ BAODT Pop Up Gallery, Munich
    2021 BAODT Pop Up Gallery, super+Ateliers, Munich
    2021 Affordable Art Fair London (Online), Noon Powell Fine Art Gallery
    2021 Online Exhibition, “The Era of Change”, Visionary Projects
    2020 Art Fair, Arte Wiesbaden
    2019 Group Exhibition, “Lass ma Cornern”, Heliumcowboy Artspace,
    Hamburg
    2019 Group Exhibition, “Timeless Impact”, Grace Denker Gallery, Hamburg