Open Space: Michael Mercil

Michael Mercil’s shadows from a dream of the 20th Century, is a set of three carved black stone monoliths. The individual pieces approximate the size of grave markers; stones that mark a beginning of western sculpture. Mercil is not a stone sculptor, but here he uses traditional materials and methods to entertain notions of origin and temporality- of the past, as legacy for the future, and the future already becoming the past. The substance of this work materializes the question: “What is the object of sculpture now?”

Michael Mercil received his M.F.A. from the University of Chicago and lives in Columbus, Ohio where he is Associate Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University.

This exhibition is made possible by the generosity of Atria Group, Inc., Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Mark di Suvero, Modern Art Foundry, JP Morgan Chase, National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Special thanks to the City of New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, City Councilmember Eric Gioia, and the Department of Parks & Recreation, Commissioner Adrian Benepe. The artist is grateful for the assistance of The Ohio Arts Council; The Ohio State University, Colleges of the Arts and Humanitiies; The University of Akron, Myers School of Art; The Wanas Foundation, Sweden; and Spacetime C.C.