Jan Merta (1952 in Šumperk) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the 1980s. He still lives and works there and in České Lhotice. In 2005 and 2009, he was nominated for Person of the Year for his artistic achievements. Later, he was appointed to the jury of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, which each year is given to emerging artists under the age of thirty-five. Aside from exploring themes concerning the human being, Merta uses his art to deal with architecture and nature in an idiosyncratic and often ironic, critical way.
