ERIC MERRELL

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Selected Sold Works

Eric Merrell Biography

Eric Merrell (b. 1978, California) is an artist based in Los Angeles. He applies his fascination with shapes and bold colors to still life, portraits and landscapes and is inspired by the infinite variety of the natural and man-made world, which he prefers to experience on location. Merrell considers his work a response to a physical place, rather than a transcription of it.

Growing up in California, Merrell was introduced to the fundamentals of painting and working outdoors at an early age. After he moved to the East Coast to attend The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, being exposed to European and modern art broadened Merrell’s artistic influences and perception. His strong foundation in landscape painting and illustration continued when he transferred to ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, while his newfound interest in modern art shaped his path forward as a painter and helped him home in on his own unique approach.

Merrell has become known for capturing moonlight and desert nocturnes in a way that’s both meditative and temperamental. Nocturnes, a short film about his dedication to painting nightscapes, directed by Alec Ernest, was released in 2016. Recently, inspired by the skateboarding he did in his youth, Merrell has been exploring this culture with a series of paintings depicting legendary skate spots and skateparks.

Merrell was selected for the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency in 2009. Two solo exhibitions of the work were subsequently held — the first at The Forbes Gallery in New York City in 2010, and another the following year in Pasadena, CA at American Legacy Fine Arts. In 2019, he was chosen for an Artist Residency with the Mojave National Preserve Artist Foundation. A solo exhibition of work created there was presented at the La Quinta Museum in La Quinta, CA in 2022 and in 2023 at the Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles.

His work has been exhibited at The Autry Museum of the American West, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, San Bernardino County Museum, USC Fisher Museum of Art, La Quinta Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, Oceanside Museum of Art, Frederick R. Weisman Museum, and the Wildling Museum, among others.

Merrell currently leads his own painting workshops, and has taught at ArtCenter College of Design, Laguna College of Art and Design, and the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.

Eric Merrell is represented by Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles.

Selected Press:
Western Art Collector (Mojave Views, January 2023), Palm Springs Life (Making a Mark, April 2023), Palm Springs Desert Sun (The Land is the Hero, Cover Article, February 2023), Southwest Art Magazine (A Sense of Wonder, Featured Article, June 2018), California Desert Art (Still Life: Eric Merrell Looks at the Orange and Agave, February 2017), BLDGBLOG (Nocturnes, January 2016), Huffington Post (While the World Sleeps an Artist Paints the Moonlit Desert, Featured Article, January 2016), Los Angeles Review of Books (Nocturnes: The Paintings of Eric Merrell, January 2016), Curbed LA (Take a Lovely Video Journey Into Joshua Tree in Darkest Night, January 2016)