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If it were allowed, viewers might be tempted to give the sculptures of Anni Mertens (1995) a gentle squeeze – if only to test whether they really give way. But whether they resemble rubber or, in other cases, cast iron, wood or stone, they are all made of ceramic. This act of challenging the viewer in this way and playing with expectation is a central element of Mertens’ practice. The forms she employs recall construction materials such as industrial barrels, inner tubes and cylindrical segments. Drawn from the everyday environment, they acquire a new, ambiguous presence through stretching, inflating, or reducing their scale. In the contrasts between hard and soft, glossy and matt, flexible and rigid, Mertens explores the limits of clay, producing an effect that often appears playful and absurdist.
Mertens usually places her work freely in space, but for In The Way, In A Way (2025) at Prospects, she further tests the viewer. The work comprises a stack of elements, wedged between two walls. It even appears to be slightly compressed, pushing back against the pressure exerted on it. But the placement also functions as a deliberate obstacle: a sculptural intervention that disrupts the flow of visitors and questions the exhibition space of an art fair. Meanwhile, viewers are drawn closer, tempted to peer between the forms. Mertens humorously creates a tension between blocking and inviting.
Written by Esther Darley