Born in 1939, Manuel Mérida studied at the School of Fine Arts of Valencia, Venezuela from 1950 through 1958. From then, he became one of the best representatives of the informalism trend and gestural art of his country. He worked as a scenographer for the theater, decorator for the cinema and advertising designer for Christian Dior, Guerlain, Cartier, Chanel, American Express, Madame Figaro, etc. In 1970 Mérida worked in Cruz-Diez’s studio where he developed the concepts of space and movement, confirming his interest in the material and the gesture.

Through his work, the artist wants to avoid proposing a fixed and unique vision by playing with the variations of colored material (pigments, sand, powder of coal, particles of wood, painted metal, etc.) contained in his monochromes. The works are always mobile, consisting of boxes or circular forms, protected by a glass plate, turning around a central axis. Some pieces work with a manual rotor, they revolve abruptly activated by the hand of the spectator. Others, activated by an engine, move slowly. The organic matter is melted, creating forms renewed in the infinity. Manuel Mérida uses the potentialities of fate to create a work in perpetual transformation. The images shaped by the material in rotation offer a hypnotizing effect on the spectator who contemplates it.

EDUCATION

1950-58 Studied at School of Fine Arts of Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

SOLO

2021 Rétroviseur, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2013 Usuyuki/Chantier, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2010 Monochrome, Mouvement, Matière, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2001 Arteactivo, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2000 University of Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela Museum of Art, Tovar, Mérida, Venezuela 1998 Centre de Culture et de Jeunesse, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

1995 Embassy of Venezuela, Paris, France

1993 Haus van der Redoute, Bonn, Germany

1978 Gallery Graphic CB, Caracas, Venezuela

1976 Museum of the Fine Arts, Escuela de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

1973 Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela

1965 Galeria del Circulo Pez Dorado, Caracas, Venezuela

GROUP

2020 Recyclage, Surcyclage, Fondation Villa Datris, Isle sur la Sorgue, France

2019 50ème anniversaire du prix de peinture Novembre à Vitry, Galerie Municipale Jean-Collet, Vitry-Sur-Seine, France

Color-Luz: Artistas cinéticos en la collection del MACLA, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2015 L’art cinétique vénézuélien, Maison des Arts Ville d’Anthony, France

2013 Mouvements & Lumières, Centre d’Art Frank Popper, Marcigny, France

2012 Mouvement et lumière, Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France

2006 Collective Show Une Histoire du Cinétisme, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2005 Collective Show Autour de Soto, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France 2004 Collective Show Movement and Abstraction, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France 2003 4 Matires du Venezuela, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

2001 Collective Show 6 Artists of the Gallery, Espace Meyer Zafra, Paris, France

1999 Arte Optico, Arte Cinetico, Espace du St Pré, Bethune, France

1998 Arte in Movemiento, Galery of National Art, Caracas, Venezuela

1988 Venezuelan Artists Living in Paris, Hotel de Ville de Vitry, Paris, France

1983 2nd Biennale of Visual Arts, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venzuela

1981 First Biennale of Visual Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Escuela de Bellas Artes and National Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela

Once Tipos, Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela

Artists Constructivists, Galeria Concejo, Maracay, Venezuela

1980 Indagacion de la Imagen, Gallery of National Art of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela

1979 Estructuras de papel, Gallery Graphic CB2, Caracas, Venezuela

1975 L’Oeil en question, Noroit Center, Arras, France

1972 Jue, Lumière et Animation, Gallery La cloche, Paris, France Salon de Mai, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, France

1969 Salon des Réalites Nouvelles, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, France

1967 Salon de Arte Venezolano, Museum of Fine Arts, Escuela de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Musée de Vitry, Paris, France

Archer Huntington Art Gallery, Austin University, Austin, TX

Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Galeria de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Arte Jesus Soto, Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Arte, Maracay, Venezuela

Banco Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

Eugenio Mendoza Foundation, Caracas, Venezuela

Ateneo de Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela

Collection Meeschaert, Paris, France

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires, Argentina