Rute Merk

Rute Merk is a Lithuanian-born artist who currently lives and works in Berlin. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Painting from Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2013 and received her painting diploma from Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich in 2020.

Her work draws upon gender, anonymous identities, and the integration of realistic fiction and virtual realities in painting, which has a distinct aesthetic reminiscent of late '90s RPG video games.

Merk stages her subjects in seemingly computer-generated imagery and scenes, exploring the gap between a person and the phantasmal of the given image, which becomes a document and a distortion arising from the triumph of the digital world and the reformation of the individual. Her paintings often feature unknown figures who are animated through resemblance to specific personage in the state of virtual existence, representing a reincarnation of human spirits in the context of technological achievement.

Merk's work has been exhibited in various international exhibitions, including at Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, Kunstverein München in Munich, Marburger Kunstverein in Marburg, RUPERT in Vilnius, and Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius. She has also had several solo exhibitions at prestigious galleries, including Gallery Vacancy in Shanghai, WT Foundation in Kyiv, and Downs & Ross in New York. Her work is characterized by a unique and thought-provoking approach to painting that blends elements of technology, identity, and the virtual world.