Meet the artist and view his collection at the gallery's Third Sunday event May 20.
Shark Man - Edmund Merricle
You can almost hear the “Jaws” theme playing when you see Edmund Merricle II’s latest artwork, exhibited at Dutoit Gallery in downtown Dayton. Meet the artist and view his collection at the gallery’s Third Sunday event May 20.
The colorful paintings depict sharks in full gory glory, teeth razor sharp and blood spurting. In some the shark wins, in some the shark is speared, and some show just that fin…
Merricle was first drawn to painting when he moved to Dayton to attend Wright State University. There he credits teachers like Glen Cebulash, Diane Fitch, and Penny Park for helping develop his craft.
From start to finish, Merricle’s design process relies heavily on reworking, or “agitating,” the surface of the painting. He relates it to a mountain climber who forgets a piece of gear, goes back down the mountain, and ends up seeing and taking another path.
“They start one way, with one idea, and I as work through that idea and painting, other interests catch my attention,” Merricle explained, “More than anything, this reworking of the surface elicits chance, opportunity, and the search of something I hadn’t planned to find.”
One of those searches brought about the sharks. Although Merricle has used water in his work for several years, the toothful fish are new territory.
“I’ve always thought of the water as an open source that I could easily invent some event,” Merricle said. “But it was pure chance the work landed on the shark.”
Dutoit Gallery, dutoitgallery.com, is located on the third floor of Front Street Studios, 1001 East Second Street, B-C door. The gallery will be open for Front Street’s Third Sunday exhibition from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 20. For more information or to make a viewing appointment, visit www.edmundjmerricle.net or email e.merricle@gmail.com.
