THE VIEW FROM HERE

Meridith McNeal

on view: June 1 - June 15, 2017

Eleanor Clark, in Rome and a Villa (Doubleday, 1952), uses the term windowphilia to describe the enchanting quality windows have in the design of a villa.  My work included in The View from Here is from a body of work that is indeed my own bit of windowphilia; large paintings—part window, part interior—that reference the historical and physical attributes of the places I have visited, as well as the generations that have passed through them and my own presence as a contemporary visitor.   

These Windowphilia paintings request two kinds of action from the observer.  Clearly beckoning, an invitation to peer through a series of life-sized windows that look out onto beguiling landscapes but also asking the viewer to stop, wait, and look more closely at what lies inside. In addition to their respective exterior landscapes, each window painting alludes to a rich interior, sometimes overtly but more often with just the hint of what lies beyond the frame.  

Open, shut, ajar; curtained or naked; opaquely reflective or straightforwardly transparent—these windows all have their own ways of inviting the viewer in. And at the same time, each one begs you to wait just a moment.  

about the artist:

Meridith McNeal is a Brooklyn-based artist, educator, curator, arts administrator and hula hooper.  Meridith has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome several times.   Her work is represented by Figureworks Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.  

Meridith’s recent solo exhibitions include Riflettendo at Torre Truglia, Sperlonga Italy, We Are All Puppets, HEREart, NYC,  Finestre e altei oggetti magici, Il Tramonto, Sperlonga, Itlay; Hot Town, Summer in Italy, Gorilla Arté, Sperlonga Italy; Liar, Liar at FigureworksGallery, Brooklyn, NY; Camera con vista: incantevole windowphilia; Hyunnart Studio Gallery, Rome, Italy; 50/50: Brooklyn/Sperlonga at ex chiesa sanctae mariae de Spelonchae, Sperlonga, Italy; “Rome and a Villa” at Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; In the Footsteps of the Starry Messenger at Figureworks Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; La dispensa at Santi, Roma, Italia; Magical Things at St. Joseph’s College Alumni Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.   

Her work was included in the Outdoor Banner Project, FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY; Cautionary Tales: Old Visions Through New Eyes, President’s Gallery, John Jay College, NYC; Sodom by the Sea Salon, Coney Island Museum, Coney Island USA, Brooklyn, NY; Day After Day, Museum at SUNY Albany, Albany, NY; The Influential Female - Drawings Inspired by Women in History, Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY; Mapping: Memory and Motion in Contemporary Art, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY. She is included in You Are Here/NYC: Mapping the Soul of the City, Katharine Harmon, Princeton Architectural Press, 2016; Map As Art, The: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography, Katharine Harmon, published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.   

In the spring 2017 Meridith represented Sperlonga Italy in the renown Fabriano Paper Festival.  Her current and upcoming curatorial efforts include Notes from Abroad, 107 Bowers Gallery & Art Space, Jersey City, NJ, summer 2017); Voyager, St. Joseph’s College Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, spring 2017 and Well Traveled, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, fall 2016. 

Meridith has curated over 90 exhibitions and is on the artist advisory board of Kentler International Drawing Space and serves on the Curatorial Committee of the Brooklyn Public Library. She is the Director of Education for the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation (Rush Arts), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing underserved youth with contemporary art education, and developing and supporting artists, curators and new audiences. 

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, the Greenwich Collection, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, and Humanities NY.