Klaus Mertens

Klaus Mertens (born 1950 in Bonn) is a German contemporary artist.

He is currently residing in Berlin and Addis Ababa.

Mertens studied and worked within the field of architecture in the 1970s.

In 1984 he studied fine arts at the Berlin University of the Arts under Georg Baselitz, and graduated in 1991 with a master's degree.

Having been attracted by African culture and art, he travelled to Ethiopia for the first time in 2007, and started teaching at Addis Ababa University in 2010.

While teaching there, he founded a new class for lithography.

In his early career, Klaus Mertens created a series of large woodcuts he called “Woodcut Tattoos”.

Mertens’ “Social Prints” works show images such as landscapes and portraits, combining elements of pop art and traditional woodcarving.

When he moved to Ethiopia, Mertens' artwork expanded to sculpturing, photography and design.

There, he started creating three-dimensional sculptures.

Using materials such as plastic bags, branches, bones or animal skulls, he created several pieces of art, including Fashion Racks (2008), Jungle Fighter (2009), Knitted Egg (2014), True to Nature (2015), Global Suit (2015), and Hypoxylon Addis (2015).

Since 2010, Mertens has created sculptures that can be used as furniture as well, following the tradition of artists like Richard Artschwager or Ron Aaron.

His 2012 exhibition "Big Pretenders, Trophies and a Drunken Donkey" at the Asni Gallery in Addis Ababa was a reflection of the human behavior of wasting nature or hunting for trophies, practiced all over the African continent.

In 2013, Mertens established a partnership between the ASFAD and the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.

He coordinates an exchange program between both academies.

Solo shows:

Group shows

Collections: