Mertes-Frady has been following the tradition of abstract modernism for several decades, reinventing her approach to her paintings and reinvigorating the dialogue around this genre. And indeed it is a dialogue: Mertes-Frady embarks on each canvas with an intention that often ultimately bends to the will of the painting itself. Through the process of creation, the painting assumes an identity that insists on a particular avenue of exploration and Mertes-Frady is intuitive enough and adept enough to follow. This is perhaps the single reason why her work continues to change and evolve: in the series 2004 to 2005, the geometric grids of New York City provided the philosophical and visual platform for works that incorporated angular, hard-edged lines over a soft, layered underpainting. In the short period of time since, the lines have become syncopated rhythms that confer a more celestial or tidal momentum; the underpainting has become even more diffuse, deep and tonal. Breaking from the rigors of a grid template, we see a painter who is at play in a field of new marks, with beautiful results. Despite the free-floating, top layers of excited, kinetic lines, which are manifested in calculated metallic angular bands; the viewer nonetheless experiences the maturity of a practiced painter who does not abandon all rules. We always know where we are in the seductively defined realms of each painting, even though we may not know how to define it. Their jewel-like quality—due in great part to her painstaking, elaborate layering —catches the light and softly reflects it back, with the implicit invitation to suspend definition and enter in. In the catalog that accompanies the exhibition, Mario Naves wrote: “Keenly attuned to a profoundly personal methodology, she uncovers unexpected facets, quirks, and complications within it. The paintings encapsulate an ongoing evolution that, like life itself, is fraught with uncertainty and defined by possibility. Mertes-Frady captures that process without relinquishing its drive points not only to painterly virtuosity but an art of deep-seated pleasure.”

Work by Mertes-Frady is included in the collections of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY; The Busch Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, among other international and national institutions.