HAPPENINGS
Daniel Merriam My Little World April 2014
EC Historic Gaslamp Gallery • RSVP to
pr@ecgallery.com • (800) 204-0062 C
ollectors throughout the world admire artist Daniel Merriam for his fantasy creatures and surrealist settings. His compositions enact stories only he can tell, as fairies ride dragons, mermaids wear dresses, and animals converge to spawn new and exceptional species. Still, no matter the setting, Merriam’s characters possess an aura of strength, delicacy, and dignity. The viewer senses each character’s unique personality not only because of Merriam’s illustrative and portraiture skill, but because of his subtle, symbolic imagery.
An American artist born in Maine, Merriam’s work revels in a contemporary surrealist style that alludes to his love of the past. The homes and wardrobes that grace his canvases show a distinctly Victorian influence, and he renders his figures as if they were royalty or of the highest social standing. Learned from years of studying the masters of the past, the detailed attire and exotic pets Merriam employs in works such as Madame Blanche and Taming Tamilia attest to the characters’ status.
Art speaks volumes, and portraits often say the most, though it is not simply a matter of copying a sitter’s figure and physical features. As is a tradition in great portraiture, Merriam includes objects and possessions to give insight into the figures’ lives, defining and humanizing them. In his latest limited edition, The Difference Between You and Me, Merriam takes this notion to a new level, choosing twins as his subject. Born from his own life experience of having twins, Merriam unveiled the original this past October at Exclusive Collections Historic Gaslamp Gallery during his “A World Apart” exhibition. The piece was so well received it immediately found a home, leading to demand for a fine art limited edition. The two girls depicted in The Difference Between You
and Me look alike but differ completely in personality and interests. Merriam uses birds and bats to give the figures individual personalities, and at first glance they may appear
EXCLUSIVE COLLECTIONS GALLERIES “As is a tradition in
great portraiture, Merriam includes objects and possessions to give insight into the
figures’ lives, defining and humanizing them.”
to represent the polarity of good and evil, an ongoing motif in Merriam’s work. Still, this is not necessarily the case, as the two girls are of equal beauty and fascination. Throughout history, artists have used animal imagery to represent the various aspects of human nature. Portraits often depicted women with small animals to represent caring
and nurturing, maternal traits conventionally
associated with the feminine. In Mary and Elizabeth Royall, Colonial American painter John Singleton Copley presents two noble young ladies, one holding a hummingbird, the other a puppy. At the same time, another of Copley’s paintings, Boy with
Squirrel, alludes to the diligence
and patience needed to tame wild animals, qualities conventionally associated with the masculine. Merriam references this symbolism, hinting at the distinct character of each girl. The birds surrounding the girl on the left suggest grace, joy, friendliness, and creativity, while the bats surrounding the girl on the right are suggestive of intuition, secretiveness, careful listening, and dreaming. Like humans, the animals project both positive and negative traits, leaving neither superior to the other.
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36