Merissa Mann

Merissa Mann invites you to the opening reception for Slippery When Wet, an alluring art installation complete with an ecofeminist performance! 
Please check out my website merissamann.com or follow me on Instagram @merissaonamission for a sneak peak of the show. I look forward to seeing you all there. 

Opening Reception on April 23rd, 4:00–7:00 p.m. 
(Brief) Live Performance at 6:00 p.m. 

On View April 23rd-28th, 2022 I Hours: Monday–Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 
Bolsky Gallery, 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045

My work straddles the line between the beautiful and abject, investigating the dialectic quality of the erotic and the horrific. I’m concerned with re-examining our relationship with the natural world and other species, using imagination and non-didactic thinking to challenge the hierarchical systems which privilege humans over other species. Specifically, I’m interested in how the construction of desire influences human patterns of consumption. Across various mediums, I utilize the seductive quality of beauty to entice the viewer into contending with the difficulty of our current ecological reality. My biomorphic gouache paintings highlight our shared connection to nature through the visual confabulation of analogous structures across different flora and fauna. Internal organs mimic the shapes and colors of undersea creatures while mushrooms glisten like gangrenous blisters. Expanding beyond the medium of painting, my staged photographs and multimedia soft sculptures focus on the illegal trafficking and maiming of endangered species vis-a-vis camp aesthetics and a critical sense of humor. The sensual glamour of the materials stands in contrast to the brutal subject matter, at once appealing and repellent. Anthropomorphic costumes blur the distinction between female and fish, comingling the formal characteristics of the two. My latest ecofeminist performances explore the parallels between women and animals’ reproductive rights, both of which are threatened by patriarchal hegemonic systems of consumption and control. 

RSVP for daily visits to the gallery
The Bolsky Gallery is open Monday through Sunday, 8:00am – 7:30pm. All visitors to the Bolsky Gallery must pre-register via this link no less than 24 hours prior to the selected event date and time. Registered visitors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and be masked for the duration of their visit. Those with medical or religious exemptions need to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 24 hours. 

RSVP for the Opening Reception
Opening reception is on April 23rd  from 4:00pm – 7:00pm. All visitors to the reception must pre-register via this link no less than 24 hours prior to the selected event date and time. Registered visitors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and be masked for the duration of their visit. Those with medical or religious exemptions need to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 24 hours.

April 23, 2022
-
April 28, 2022
Exhibition
MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition: Merissa Mann
Open to the Public
Free Icon
April 23, 2022 -
April 28, 2022
2022-04-23 08:00 2022-04-28 19:30
Exhibition
MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition: Merissa Mann
The Bolsky Gallery
9045 Lincoln Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90045
Open to the Public
This event is free!