The Block is Hot (left),
I, Used to Be XV- XVII (Center)
A Wise Head Keeps A Still Tongue (Right)
Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation (2023) on view at Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA co-curated by Dr. Maurita Poole and Maggie Adler
I, Used to Be XV- XVII (Center)
A Wise Head Keeps A Still Tongue (Right)
Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation (2023) on view at Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA co-curated by Dr. Maurita Poole and Maggie Adler
The Block is Hot (the resurrection), 2023, 96" * 66" * 32", plaster body cast, AC motor, steel, concrete-blocks, aircraft cable, U link, pulleys, ratchet strap
The Block is Hot (the resurrection) speaks to a culture of gender performativity often associated with Black men from working-class families while thinking about the relationship of bodies to architecture and class. The title "The Block is Hot" is sourced from the New Orleans-born rapper Lil Wayne's 1999 studio debut album of the eponymous name. Rap music was a dominant form of culture in Meris's youth, even though he grew up in the Bahamas, where he often found himself at odds with the world around him. This work points towards other possibilities for race, gender, and sexuality yet to be defined.
Through kinetic movement, The Block is Hot is slowly emancipating itself. This work is about rebuking racist mythologies around Blackness while destabilizing the violence of the hegemonic gaze.
Through kinetic movement, The Block is Hot is slowly emancipating itself. This work is about rebuking racist mythologies around Blackness while destabilizing the violence of the hegemonic gaze.
The Block is Hot (the resurrection), 2023, 96" * 66" * 32", plaster body cast, AC motor, steel, concrete-blocks, aircraft cable, U link, pulleys, ratchet strap
The Block is Hot (the resurrection), 2023, 96" * 66" * 32", plaster body cast, AC motor, steel, concrete-blocks, aircraft cable, U link, pulleys, ratchet strap
The Block is Hot (the resurrection), 2023, 96" * 66" * 32", plaster body cast, AC motor, steel, concrete-blocks, aircraft cable, U link, pulleys, ratchet strap
The Block is Hot (the resurrection), 2023, 96" * 66" * 32", plaster body cast, AC motor, steel, concrete-blocks, aircraft cable, U link, pulleys, ratchet str
A still tongue keeps a wise head (detail), 2024, ac motor, stainless steel, t-slot aluminum extrusions, plaster, walker, 49” * 46” * 24.5”
A still tongue keeps a wise head, 2024, ac motor, stainless steel, t-slot aluminum extrusions, plaster, walker, 49” * 46” * 24.5”
A still tongue keeps a wise head, 2024, ac motor, stainless steel, t-slot aluminum extrusions, plaster, walker, 49” * 46” * 24.5”
Tét Chaje, 2023, galvanized steel, hydrocal, ac motor, hardware, light fixtures, epoxy resin, 44.5” x 39” x 18”
Now you see me; Now you don’t, install view, 2020