‘The Prince in the Orchard' is on display for a limited period at Lifehouse, Missenden Rd. Its on the first floor near the blood collection area. Hope you'll have time to have a look.
Merrick is working on an orchard painting - it’s watercolours on rice paper and 9 metres long. The rice paper has been sewn to backing cloth to keep it firm. The painting depicts the orchard in changing season.
Read MoreI started on this painting about 9 years ago with the vague idea of my son Luke in a thoughtful setting with his dog Maggie.
The image of the remains of a building in Armenia from the 11th century took me by surprise when I was given a calendar by Armenian tradespeople living in Australia.
Read MoreThe painting began 17 years ago with a photo taken in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. Luke picked a costume of a prince in a glorious yellow gown and strolled among the rocks in a dream state.
One of Luke's early memories was seeing a camel sniffing the Great Wall of China. He was 3 years old at the time. In 1993 we lived in Shanghai for 3 months with my wife working in connection with Public Health and myself visiting artists and galleries. I had been interested in the calligraphic styles of the Chinese painters since being a Signwriter in my mid-teens.
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The work started late in 2019 with the idea of a single candle in the cosmos representing my son Luke’s departure. I had picked up the fact that we are all made of stardust and return to the stars at the end of life. It is a huge comforting idea and I needed one for the grief I had. I started looking at the moon at night and the idea of being ‘in the shadow of the moon' came not as a literal idea which is hardly possible, but as humans we know very little about the complexity of the universe and are insignificant, watching from the shadows. I have just read that about every 750 years the moon, sun and the earth line up in a total solar eclipse, and we are in the shadow of the moon, only for a few minutes. The works are diorama assemblages. I have used many materials with some having lights which come on with a remote.
I'll be taking private groups through my show, please contact me to arrange.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Merrick
Recently, I finished this painting entitled ‘Arlo Valley’. I began this painting in 2003 while I was interested in the relationship between Leonardo DaVinci as a child and his mother, Catarina. My thoughts were around my own mother and how close I was to her. I was a difficult and emotional child with bouts of bad temper, while she was always patient and supportive of my creative endeavours. I exhibited other works about Leonardo and Caterina in the exhibition a Quadrocentro Narrative, however I could not resolve this painting at the time.
Read MoreAfter 20 years of not having running water and a toilet in my home studio I have finally put it together. I have been slowly collecting materials for many years and the entire woodwork comes from the streets within a few blocks from the house, including the studs and framework. I even found a Cedar staircase that goes to the studio above, complete with banister, which I found on the footpath 200 yards from my front step .
The decorative Victorian fireplace tiles have come from various ‘ reuse and recycle’ places along with the ceiling which is made of translucent white Perspex on the backside of an old shop sign. The floor tiles are made from the slate after the studio had to have a new roof. The doorway is set on a corner and with the door being made from the backs of curved 1940’s theatre seats.
The inside of the door is stippled in matte green as a contrast to all the woodwork which has a satin finish. The sink near the doorway repeats the shape of the bath. The mirrors have been set into the steps of the exposed staircase above the toilet. The floating fish follows a sea theme throughout the bathroom. The walls above the tiles came from Pine kitchen cupboard doors. The window from the outside is Chinese (a relic with dragon carving). On the inside is a glass assemblage which is illuminated when the main bathroom light is switched on. The main light is set in a compartment in line with the ceiling as part of it .
I was given the sides and the end of a French Victorian bed, made of French Oak. I used the end of the bed to house a wall mirror which is above the sink and because it was too long for the wall, it extends around the next wall above the bath. The rails of the bed, which of course match the mirror, are used around the rest of the bathroom as a border between the tilling and the woodwork. To unite the decorative tilling, I mixed powdered pigments into the grouting. The towel rail is made from a Dragon Boat Paddle, since it was a little too long for the wall I turned it down as if bent .
I recently rediscovered this very early work from 1974 called ‘Plough’. The texture of the earth was produced by carving into the wood format.
Read MoreThe exhibition title, “Still life in it” is very Merrick Fry. A cheeky pun masking a questioning seriousness. Is there still life in the subjects of these works, or in the works themselves, or in the still life genre? Is still life only part of what is in each of these works? Or is it that when things are no longer/not alive there can nevertheless be life in them for us; that we can vividly recall or call up that life? That there is more to see or to say about these things and so they are alive in that sense?
Read MoreThe still life (spilling into a landscape) has always interested me but I found a new depth of concentration in producing these works.
The process I used came out of a deeply stressful family situation. I worked on one work at a time with a focused discipline - layering the watercolour with numerous glazes over many days and they seemed to reach a point where they may burst at the end if I didn't stop.
September 2020
Read More10 August 2019
This exhibition consists of drawings done in The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney in April & May 2018 and includes assemblages from earlier work which show my fascination with the tree.
Read More15 June 2018
This work was hidden behind a power outlet in the old Danks St galleries, in Waterloo, Sydney. Unfortunately the work was lost when the galleries were demolished.
Read More15 May 2018
Merrick Fry's installation in the foyer of the SMART Research Building at the University of Wollongong presents a surreal vision of power stations in the landscape of the future. These power stations have the beauty and grace of the temples one might see in modern day Myanmar.
Read More11 March 2018
Woolly mammoths were drawn as part of a community campaign opposed to the construction of a Woolworths supermarket in Annandale, Sydney.
Read More10 March 2018
These artworks were produced for the Annandale Heritage Festival and were printed on bags and tea towels.
11 March 2018
Merrick's artwork appeared in a 1987 calendar Literary Owls celebrating a decade of Boobook Publications.
Read More11 January 2018
This is the story of the Fry Bros Orchard at Bathurst. The saga began during the great depression of the 1930s. There were six brothers involved in the early days of the project.
5 January 2018
Merrick discovered a local version of the wattle and daub method of construction and decided to build his the technique to build his own house. With the help of his friends, he edited his notes about the project and illustrated them in this book.
10 November 2017
"The exhibition was a collaboration between myself, Anne Ferguson – a sculptor, and Alan Holley – a composer, which explores the relationship between music, nature and the landscape."
Read More10 November 2005
"Early in 2004 I thought, this is the year to win a few prizes, so I entered quite a few. If you win you can put them on your CV to impress people. If you don't get hung, no one knows and you keep it to yourself."
1 July 2005
"I first remembered seeing Mrs Solanov riding a bike past out house in Rankin Street. She was probably going to the library because her basket was full of books."