Betty Merken

About the Artist

Betty Merken is an American painter and printmaker who has had over 100 solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Japan, China, and Italy. Merken’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the UCLA Hammer Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the de Young Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor), the Portland Art Museum, Portland Oregon, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, the Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA, and the Civita Institute, Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy. She is the co-author with Stefan Merken of Wall Art, Megamurals and Supergraphics.

Merken has been honored with awards and fellowships from the BAU Institute in Otranto, Italy and New York (2010 and 2012), The Civita Institute, Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy and Seattle (2011), and the Pinea-Linea de Costa Artist International (2017) in Cadiz Spain.

Artist Statement

Color and materiality are paramount in my work. Contrasts of color, form, and perception play a significant role, as do elemental oppositions such as warm and cool and light and dark. I am deeply engrossed in the power of color to evoke emotion, to echo a sense of place, and to encourage contemplation. In addition I am continually challenged to create works which have a sense of inevitability about them and reveal a sense of oneness with the viewer.














 

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