MERZ responds to Covid-19 for 9th May ‘exhibition’
To celebrate WORLD COLLAGE DAY on 9th May MERZ had planned to exhibit the 200 or so envelopes and packages in which the Schwitters’ Army had forwarded their collages for the January exhibition. Instead of displaying in the gallery (where they will not be seen in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines) we’ve made a very short... Read More
Torquill Tower : Morane Le Coz & Sanquhar P6
French illustrator Morane Le Coz has been in residence at MERZ since January. Morane was here on a skill swop to explore video work and to contribute illustration skills. Working with P6 at Sanquhar Primary, Morane has been building illustrations from the kid’s drawings for a story of olden times set in the Nith Valley.... Read More
Rhona and Calum INSIDE : OUTSIDE
Drawings of the sculptures being made by Rhona Jack and Calum Wallis within MERZ are now appearing on the outside of the building: for those taking their daily exercise along Queen’s Road in Sanquhar. Drawings and films of the sculptures as they are being made also appear on the MERZ Facebook and Instagram pages.
Calum and Rhona : Making Sculpture via Social Media at MERZ
Calum and Rhona have started work on their sculptures at MERZ. Due to the restrictions arising with the Coronavirus they will be holding their exhibition ‘on-line’ via film at the end of April, rather than face-to-face with an opening. But Calum and Rhona make interactive work … so they would like you to contribute to... Read More
Coronavirus Impact on MERZ
For the foreseeable future the residency and exhibition programme at MERZ will be suspended. We hope to continue working via social media, with work arising with the current artists in residence and the kids in P6 at the local Primary school. Our short arts-news films are also published on the MERZ Facebook Page (and on... Read More
Rhona Jack & Calum Wallis : Sculpture at MERZ
Rhona Jack and Calum Wallis began work at MERZ last week. As the new artists in residence they’ve found the Coronavirus already impacting on their work by limiting local social contact. Yet their proposed mobile and kinetic sculptures still lend themselves to public input, if no longer as physically interactive as they’d like. Over the next... Read More
Schwitters’ Army on Parade
February 16th saw the initial ‘Parade’ of the Schwitters’ Army collection of 202 collages posted to MERZ from 24 countries. In a project coordinated by New Orleans’ based artist in residence Ric Kasini Kadour the ‘Parade’ forms part of the Residency Archive at MERZ, joining work by Ally Wallace and Cat Robertson. Further collaborations with... Read More
Pushkin : Collage at MERZ
Norfolk based collagist Pushkin visited artist in residence Ric Kasini Kadour during his residency at MERZ.
Queensberry Square : Imagined Creatures
As part of their design work for the new play structure at Queensberry Square, P6 of Sanquhar Primary have been drawing creatures for the towers’ panels. With the help of illustrator Morane LeCoz their drawings are being prepared for printing.
Imagine a girl; imagine a boy
Recently David and Morane helped Grace, Charli and Lucy of Kelloholm Primary put together their film on gender equality. The film is the school’s submission to the Scottish Government’s campaign to improve Gender Balance and Equalities. Morane LeCoz is an illustrator and filmmaker from France on a residency at MERZ. Morane is working on children’s... Read More
Collage Seminar
On the 25th January collage artists from Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway and Birmingham came together for the Collage Seminar. MERZ artist in residence Ric Kassini Kadour introduced his rationale for collage being a 21st century medium and Rhed Fawell of the Edinburgh Collage Collective ran a workshop on book-binding and collage. Through the magazine Kolaj... Read More
P6 & Tyler Black : Queensberry Square Playpark Design
Tyler Black’s final animation of Sanquhar Primary P6’s designs for the replacement play structure in Queensberry Square. Working with MERZ and the Kids Council P6 are taking forward Sanquhar’s young play-park ideas to Dumfries & Galloway Council and their contractors. MERZ and Kids Council are supported by the Holywood Trust.
SCHWITTERS’ ARMY
For Kurt Schwitters, MERZ was his manifesto. He explained it as “the combination of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes, and technically the principle of equal evaluation of the individual materials.” His intention was to give anything from a used bus ticket to a piece of wire found on the street “equal rights with paint.”... Read More
David Rushton : Collapse the Box
When over in Scotland in May 2019 to film the Sanquhar Arts Festival the Belfast production company and broadcaster, NvTv interviewed David Rushton. NvTv had shot enough footage to edit a programme for their artist series, ‘Collapse the Box’. Here MERZ Director David Rushton talks about his reasons for relocating to Sanquhar, for establishing MERZ... Read More
Ally Wallace : Factory Lines
Ally Wallace was our second Funded Artist in Residence at MERZ, staying from September to November in 2019. In this film Ally outlines the influence of local buildings and textile industries on his research, his approach to working and the final exhibition in the Gallery. The MERZ residencies and this recording are supported by the... Read More
Andy McDowall : 40 years behind the lens
An exhibition to return to, again and again. Andy McDowall‘s, 40 years behind the lens opened at MERZ on Friday 20th. Andy will be in the gallery most afternoons from 1:00-3:00pm till 4th January to talk you through forty years of history in photographs of life in Sanquhar and Upper Nithsdale.
Amy Marletta and Denise Zygadlo : As the moon sees it
Denise Zygadlo and Amy Marletta‘s exhibition of collages and their work on the Hannah Höch art-house opened on 21st December at the Museum of Model Art. A further opening is scheduled for Boxing Day afternoon (2:00-4:00pm) otherwise by arrangement till the end of January (hello@merz.gallery). The exhibition will provide the setting for the Collage Seminar... Read More
Amy Marletta & Denise Zygadlo : As the moon sees it
The Museum of Model Art’s exhibition ‘As the moon sees lt‘ by Amy Marletta & Denise Zygadlo also features a tribute to the Dada artist Hannah Höch, the celebrated pioneer of photomontage. A sample of soft furnishing elements for the Hanna Höch art-house on the sculpture green at MERZ forms part of the exhibition.... Read More