Wedding Ritual #9: Merny

Merny

works in a range of mediums including murals, watercolour and acrylic, assemblage, model-making and works on paper. His art is an ongoing exploration of the human condition, vehicles, machinery and engineering; inspired by technical illustrations, diagrams, contemporary meme culture - and naive sign painting he has encountered on trips to Mexico, South Africa and through personal research. The result is an anarchic embrace of imperfection and a sense of creative and technical nonchalance. Most recently, his output during lockdown tackles the unavoidable presence of the virus in our lives: the absurd absence of certainty and the depressing news we are bombarded with daily, which, he says, is becoming so dystopian and relentlessly depressing that it becomes silly.

Here are Merny's old, new, borrowed and blue creative works, in his own words:

Something Old

"A mural painted by myself in Loures, Portugal in 2018. An exploded diagram of a truck painted with Spray Paint. I was heavily into painting trucks and vehicles for around two years and produced three booklets under the name of 'Wot Vargen'. A mixture of What Car but using the German word Wagen, but spelt differently.  I was travelling around Portugal in a camper van for 8 months and painted a lot of trucks in derelict buildings I came across on the journey. This was an abandoned cement factory."

Something New

Essential Travel

"A new piece of mine with watercolour.  I’ve been painting a lot of pieces inspired by the current COVID situation and the political landscape. My work now is  an exploration of the human condition, machinery and engineering. Inspired by technical diagrams, meme culture and sign painting I have encountered on travels in Mexico and Africa. Essential Travel was inspired by a safety card from a passenger jet. I reorganised the elements to create a loose story about Covid, essential travel, cancelled plans and other imagery from the moment. "

Something Borrowed

Dirty Paradise

"A painting by one of my favourite artists, BILLY. It’s an abstract depiction of rubbish left lying around in nature. Including a tampon, a used condom, a plastic bag and more."

Something Blue

"A collection of people having sex in various ways. Painted using watercolour and gouache in 2018. I originally made a valentine’s card showing a couple of positions and later decided to make a much bigger more detailed piece for an exhibition in Margate called Dirty Paradise."

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You can find out more about Merny on his website right here, which includes links to all the Merny-associated social media you could possibly want - and don't miss his mixtapes.

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Wedding Ritual #10 will be conducted by Ghray.

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