Merzmensch - Birthday poem for grandfather

From the series: NeoreAIlism
Paper: Hahnemühle Fine Art Archival Print
Sheet size: 40 × 40 cm with 1 cm white border around the motif.
Year: Edition of 2025
Edition: 3 + 1 AP
Signed, dated and edition numbered by the artist on a separate label.

Merzmensch – Birthday poem for grandfather

A square. A gathering. A face made of water. And a child speaking on behalf of the group.

In "Birthday Poem for Grandfather, " Merzmensch creates a tableau of quiet symbolic power. At its center is a girl in a dark dress. Her gaze is direct, serious, almost accusatory—yet full of dignity. Around her: children, teenagers, an audience. Her posture says: "I remember. And I speak it out."

What this "birthday poem" contains remains open. It is not text, but an image—and yet poetic. A visual poem about origins, generations, and the passage of time. The "grandfather" here is not just a concrete figure, but a placeholder for history, ancestry, and collective memory.

As always in the Neorealism series, time and reality blur. The aesthetic is reminiscent of archival photos from the 1950s, but nothing about them is real. Yet it seems more authentic than many documents.

A work about tenderness and grief, about remembering that is not sentimental but active. A gift to those who make the invisible visible – with words, images, and gestures.