Mercedes

Mercedes presents an imaginary city rising on a steep relief, beneath a blue-grey sky traversed by golden ramifications. The composition is organised around a central axis: the dense, almost sculpted architectural mass stands out against a more open, atmospheric space. Two stylised trees frame the scene and lend the whole a monumental structure, like an urban vision suspended between landscape and architecture. The palette is based on cool greys, earthy browns and shades of beige, enlivened by the gold of the vegetal lines and by a few luminous accents in the buildings. The contrast between the muted materiality of the base and the delicacy of the upper lines creates an original sense of depth. The city is not depicted according to a realistic perspective: it appears as an assemblage of volumes, signs and textures, in which towers, façades, grilles and circular motifs form an almost symbolic architectural language. The mixed technique, developed primarily on canvas, reveals itself in the richness of the surface. Vertical drips animate the lower section and visually extend the rocky wall, while the central areas accumulate effects of relief, scraping and incision. The fine, nervous golden branches set their linear rhythm against the density of the city. This tension between material and drawing constitutes one of the work’s major formal characteristics. Susanne Zweifel, a Swiss artist born in Basel and based in Meinisberg, has been painting in acrylic and mixed media since the 1990s. She has exhibited regularly in Switzerland since 1997 and ran her own gallery on Münstergasse, near Bern Minster, from 2010 to 2019. Mercedes bears the signature “S. Zweifel” at the bottom right. In a contemporary living space, a salon in mineral tones or an architecture office, Mercedes would bring a graphic and sculptural presence. Its square format would engage in dialogue with understated furnishings, while the golden accents and central city would introduce depth, contrast and warmth on a light-coloured wall.