Merrill Wagner Solo Exhibition at New York Studio School

The New York Studio school presents a solo exhibition of works by Merrill Wagner from 1971 to 2012. Wagner’s long-term projects are as akin to scientific experiments as to works of art. Her “paintings” are sometimes no more than a series of squares of similar hues made by different paint manufacturers on a cedar fence. Her purpose is to study the effects of the elements on the paint itself. Critic and curator Lilly Wei has noted that works of this type “give plein air painting literal meaning.” Placing the work directly into the landscape and leaving it there, Wei says, “is ultimately a gallant and quixotic gesture, the willful act of an artist who wants to make her mark on nature while soliciting nature’s active participation.” Noted for her dedication to conveying the romanticism of the great American landscape, Wagner creates dynamism between contrasting colors and geometric abstraction and creates a balance between man versus nature, sculpture versus painting.

Learn more at New York Studio School.