#meryl pataky

@merylpataky-blog-blog

Meryl Pataky’s “Not Long For This World” at pt.2 Gallery.

Currently on view at pt.2 Gallery in Oakland, California is artist Meryl Pataky’s fantastic solo exhibition of new neon sculptures: “Not Long For This World.”

From the Gallery:

Childlike flowers glow, drip, and melt into the gallery in both neon and paint, playing with light reflection and color on the walls’ surface before completely disappearing into the black carpeted floor. Instead of LED lamps, this “home” glows with bright greens, purples, and blues, overlaid with a sense of depreciation, suggesting the passage of time. Using her tar-dripping techniques, these works speak to what happens after the transformer dies, what happens after the power goes out, and what might happen to us as well. This creates a tenuous balance, making us hyper-aware of passing time while drawing our attention to sensuous materials. According to the UN, we only have 12 years until we begin to experience catastrophic effects of climate change, so Pataky consciously uses plastic, glass, and other unsustainable materials, urging us to consider the future of our planet and how much actual time we have left. Not Long for This World is a celebration of anxiety, with Pataky fully embracing these precarities. As a child, was put up for adoption and at 24, she lost her adoptive mother, both of which compound her own self-doubt regarding motherhood. By drawing flowers, something she did as a child, and then creating them in both neon and paint, she evokes her own history while growing into her future as an artist. Having always longed for a more organic process, she moves away from the structure of neon to the intuitive nature of painting. In this body of work, Pataky imagines domesticity in a sincere and exciting way, breaking boundaries, using vibrant color, and addressing reality directly. This honest reflection on thoughtful parenthood, creating life in 2019 and the weird and wonderful adaptations that must accompany it. Not Long for This World asks us to revel in our anxieties and acclimatize to what may be on the horizon for us all, whether we like it or not.

Meryl Pataky

Meryl Pataky at Stephanie Chefas Projects.

Opening on Friday, July 6th, 2018 at Stephanie Chefas Projects in Portland, Oregon is an exhibition of brand new neon sculptural work by artist Meryl Pataky.

Breaking new ground while fortifying her devotion to light, Pataky continues to explore her aesthetic to mind-blowing effect. Flexing her experimental muscles for this exhibit, she adds a quick cast of resin and black pigment to the neon tubes, simulating the leak of a transformer. In other works, Pataky rests a cinder block atop the neon tube while the entire piece lays over a hand-silvered piece of glass, thereby leaving a glowing reflection as an unexpected viewable element. “By experimenting as much as possible with my medium, I find that I continue to see joy in the medium,” says Pataky. “Right now experimentation is a huge part of my process.”

The show will be on view until July 28th, 2018 and absolutely should be sought out if in the area.

“SHE BENDS: WOMEN IN NEON.”

Opening on Saturday, September 16th, 2017 at The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California is the spectacular group exhibition entitled “SHE BENDS: WOMEN IN NEON.”

She Bends is the largest, most inclusive all-female neon exhibition ever put together.  Curated by neon artist Meryl Pataky, She Bends features 29 artists who not only use neon as their primary medium, but have deliberately chosen to dive into this male-dominated trade.

Artists include: Sarah Blood, Teresa Escobar, Shawna Peterson, Linda Bracey, Emma-Kate Hart, Linda Sue Price, Dana Caputo, Michie Hongo, Lily Reeves, Anika Chasuk, Eve Hoyt, Lisa Schulte, Robin Clason, Kate Hush, Valerie Shusterov, Krista Davis, Koko Jamison, Olivia Steele, Eve De Haan, Kacie Lees, Megan Stelljes, Linda Diec, Stephanie Sara Lifshutz, Mary Voytek, Lily Erb, Leticia Maldonado, Romily Alice Walden and Meryl Pataky.