Artwork Details
- Title
- Untitled
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1980
- Location
- Dimensions
- weight: approx. 1087 lb. (493.1 kg)
- Credit Line
- The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
- Mediums Description
- painted railroad spikes
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Object — tool — hardware
- Object Number
- 2016.38.42
Artwork Description
After retiring from a career as an automotive die cutter, Albert “Kid” Mertz turned to painting and sculpting. He covered his modest Michigan home—which he variously called “Owl’s Rest,” “Owl’s Roost,” and “Al’s Roost”—with polka dots, stripes, and colorful embellishments. He painted objects as well, including hundreds, possibly thousands of railroad spikes he had collected from tracks near his property, giving each spike a cheerful face. Unlike some art environments, Mertz’s space was not intended for performance, protection, or preaching; it was simply a place for the artist to creatively transform, and for visitors to delight in.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)