Andrew Merritt

“CryFire"

Regional Curator Program: Kendale Rice , Curator
August 5th-September 30th 2011
Christine DeVitt Exhibition Hall

The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts and Helen DeVitt Jones Studio Gallery are pleased to present Andrew J. Merritt: Cry Fire, a solo exhibition featuring New Mexico artist Andrew J. Merritt. Merritt’s work explores disparate urban and rural subjects, while addressing themes of isolation, beauty and self-reflection through his utilization of extraneous, discarded materials. His latest pieces are based upon the recent wildfires that ravaged parts of West Texas and New Mexico.
Works included in the exhibition were created using a range of materials such as wood, oil, metals, asphalt, and spray paint.Merritt’s graphic, urban style lends a sense of visual intensity to his subjects. The scale, physicality, and subject matter of Merritt’s work combine to create a visual pathos that makes Cry Fire a formidable—and unforgettable—exhibition.
A showcase of Merritt’s work will be displayed in the gallery’s largest project room, the HDJ Studio gallery. Andrew J. Merritt: Cry Fire will be on display August 5 – September 30, 2011.
There will be an opening reception for the exhibition during LHUCA’s First Friday Art Trail, on August 5 from 6 PM to 10 PM with artist Andrew J. Merritt and curator and member of LHUCA’s Regional Curator’s Program, Kendale Rice, in attendance.
Andrew J. Merritt (b. 1984. Clovis, New Mexico)
Merritt incorporates an array of textures and mediums into his work, which lends an aura of physicality to his subject matter. The use of urban graffiti, collage, and smoky, mixed-media abstraction on his large-scale canvases simultaneously evoke disillusionment, compelling romantic sentiment, and keen awareness of his natural surroundings. Merritt’s constantly-evolving work experiments with landscapes, people and memories, exploring the delicate relationship between each of these elements.
Merritt’s recent solo shows include No-frills, (Eula Mae Edwards Museum, Clovis Community College, New Mexico, 2010), Snow on the Window Pane, (Runnels Gallery, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico,2010), and Long Winter, (Underground Embassy, New Mexico 2010). Merritt lives and works in his gallery, Underground Embassy, in Clovis, New Mexico.

For additional information on Andrew Merritt visit www.drewmerritt.com. For additional information and press materials on Merritt’s previous exhibitions, including Abandoned Visions, please contact Kendale Rice via e-mail at rice.kendale@gmail.com, and/or Kasey Robinson at kaseylrobinson@me.com.