QUIRKYVISION Exhibition
Meryl Meisler’s QUIRKYVISION will be introduced on June 24th at Le Palais des Congrès de Vichy as part of the PORTRAIT(S) Tenth Annual Festival. QUIRKYVISION is a solo exhibition that presents 50 images documenting New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The viewer will be immersed in the nightlife and disco parties of New York of that time, will get to see the city and its residents' in daylight, and even take a sneak peek at Meryl’s family through her unique ‘quirky’ perspective.
The installation consists of black and white and color images relentlessly focusing on people and personal experiences, capturing Carpe Diem to the fullest and offering it as a connecting element between the narratives. As Meryl explains, “The work in QUIRKYVISION represents a range of forty-six years of my life and art career. I realize it is a visual diary — a record of people and places that captured my fascination and lifted my spirits during good and challenging times.”
Meryl Meisler is a photographer currently based in New York, represented by ClampArt Gallery. After retiring from her career as a school art teacher, Meryl decided to continue following her passion in the photography scene. Since then, she has published several photo books: A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick (Bizarre, 2014), Purgatory & Paradise: SASSY ‘70s Suburbia & The City (Bizarre, 2015), and New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco (Parallel Pictures Press 2021). In this second interview with Meryl, we discuss her work on the upcoming exhibition at Vichy. We speak about the emergence of the ‘quirky vision,’ and the roots of this vision traced back to the family photograph Meryl took during the Rosh HaShana celebrations in 1974.
Exhibition
PORTRAIT(S) Festival (June 24 – September 4, 2022) A Photography Encounter in Vichy, France | Le Palais des Congrès de Vichy
Meryl Meisler will be present on June 24th and June 25th
‘The seeds for this show were unknowingly planted back in 2014 with the publication of my first book, A Tale of Two Cities Disco Era Bushwick.’
Hi Meryl, how is it going? Congratulations on being a part of the PORTRAIT(S) Festival and your solo exhibition, presenting 50 images! How does it feel?
I am thrilled and honored that QUIRKYVISION will be part of the PORTRAIT(S) Festival. La pièce de résistance — I will attend the opening reception weekend in Vichy on June 24th and 25th. Oui!
Rethinking your work and building the way it will be presented physically was probably a long process that involved a lot of people connected to the exhibition: the curator, the printer, yourself, etc. How was it working on the exhibition, your biggest solo one yet, and choosing the works that will appear?
The seeds for this show were unknowingly planted back in 2014 with the publication of my first book, A Tale of Two Cities Disco Era Bushwick. The first review was by a Parisian journalist Sophie Peyrard. In 2018, Sophie created a TV segment about my work for Tracks ARTE TV: Meryl Meisler, vigil des suits new-yorkaises.
While in Berlin for my October 2021 exhibition at Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, I received an email from Fany Dupêchez, Artistic Director of the international festival Portrait(s). Ms. Dupêchez wrote that she “discovered my work with big thanks to Sophie Peyrard” and invited me to a solo show in the 10th edition of Portrait(s) in Vichy, 2022. So, of course, I said yes!
Over the months, planning was done through numerous email exchanges with Fany Dupêchez and her team at Art Photo Projects — Pascal Michaut and Chloé Dardennes. They wanted the show to focus on three bodies of work: family, nightlife, and Bushwick. Initially, they asked me to send them 25 lo-res files of what I consider my best images from each series, image titles, a bio, and a description of the usual format of my pictures for an exhibition.
In addition to my 75 choices, I sent all the photos from these series that appear in my three books: New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco (Parallel Pictures Press 2021), Purgatory & Paradise: SASSY ‘70s Suburbia & The City (Bizarre 2015), and A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick (Bizarre 2014). I love having my work curated. Their ultimate choices are fantastic.
‘The Vichy Culture pedagogic team prepared a brochure for young audiences, including one of my photos. The guide is composed of some basic information on photographic principles and techniques and games using pictures from exhibitions, including one of my nightlife photos.’
Today, presenting work in a gallery allows more freedom to an artist to offer their vision without it getting banned and censored, as happens so often on social media. What does the process of working on an exhibition look like?
I came up with the title for the show. QUIRKYVISION seemed a natural fit. Since Sophie Peyrard knows my work so well, she was chosen to write the press kit and exhibition statement based on our conversations. Sylvie Meunier, the scenographer of all exhibitions in Vichy, designed the installation. I saw the scenography model. It is breathtaking. Following the scenography specifications, I prepared the hi-res digital files to scale. With the generosity of the Portrait(s) Festival, City of Vichy, and numerous sponsors, all the work was printed and framed in France. Pascal Michaut oversaw the entire production in person and sent me images of the process. Any usage for public display or publication, such as Metro signage and printed catalog, were shown to me first for any edits or approval...
Yes, there is less censorship showing work in exhibitions and books than on social media. QUIRKYVISION includes some evocative imagery, but it is also child friendly. The Vichy Culture pedagogic team prepared a brochure for young audiences, including one of my photos. The guide is composed of some basic information on photographic principles and techniques and games using pictures from exhibitions, including one of my nightlife photos. In addition, the festival will give a guide to youngsters during mediations and exhibition visits. As a retired school teacher, I am happy they prepared materials to engage young audiences.
Each photographer asks questions, which they try to answer with their work, digging deeper into the topic, removing layers to understand the surroundings, the present, and the human aspects in a better way, or adding layers working on abstract concepts. How did your work and the meaning behind it, the answers it perhaps provides change for you during the years and various formats it was presented with, such as online, a printed book, and an exhibition?
The work in QUIRKYVISION represents a range of forty-six years of my life and art career. I realize it is a visual diary — a record of people and places that captured my fascination and lifted my spirits during good and challenging times. It took time, distance, and many encouraging people who opened invisible doors and helped me edit and put my work 'out there.' I am still digging, grasping, and finally acknowledging that such quirky photos could have cultural and historical significance and be inspirational to others.
As a printer’s daughter, I have reverence for print, whether newspapers, magazines, posters, or books. Books take tremendous work — they are points of light shedding knowledge, inviting questions, and giving new insights. I was a hesitant latecomer to social media but very aware of its importance. I like having my work and learning about others through online media outlets — that is why I am in conversation with WÜL. Exhibitions, like books, take a tremendous amount of time, expense, and hard work. I love seeing my artwork in a physical exhibit or public space and interacting with the audience. I always try to have related events (such as discussions, guest speakers, and walking tours) for each of my exhibitions beyond the opening or closing reception that draw in people who might not usually go to a gallery or museum.
If a person were to view only one image at this exhibition, which one would you suggest? Why?
"The Meisler, Forkash & Cash Clan Welcoming a Sweet New Year" (North Massapequa, NY, Rosh Hashanah, 1974), the earliest work in the exhibit, shows the emergence of my quirky vision. I come from a heritage of humor. So here we are gathered around the dining room table of the house I grew up in on Rosh Hashanah, welcoming the Jewish New Year 5735.
I was enrolled in a photography class in graduate school and had recently bought my first (used) medium format camera. I asked my family permission to take a portrait of this typical scene I knew and loved my entire childhood and young adult life. My dad Jack Meisler (in the white T-shirt at the table), a printer by trade, was a gifted photographer who documented all important family events. He is beaming with pride. Everyone patiently went on eating while I set up clamp lights and a tripod, stood on a chair, and used a flash. Clockwise from dad stands my mom, Sunny, with her arms around my younger brother Mitch. Our older brother Ken was recently engaged; he was celebrating with his future wife and in-laws.
The woman with a checked blouse next to the boy eating a drumstick is Aunt Evelyn Forkash, my mom's sister. Evelyn's husband, my Uncle Lou, was a butcher. He was probably in the kitchen carving more meat. Evelyn and Lou's son Gary and his wife Myra (Cash) are there with their children Brad and Jennifer. Sunny and Evelyn were extremely close; we spent nearly every weekend together — at their apartment in the Bronx (later in Queens), or they'd come to our Long Island home. Mom believed no one should be alone on a holiday. My High School friend Denise (with a fork in her mouth) was not Jewish, and her family did not celebrate Rosh Hashanah. So, mom invited her to our home. My family was (is) very loving and adored all their children, but my parents had marital difficulties. A year later, they separated and eventually divorced. So, this would be their last Rosh Hashanah together.
I still have that chandelier, tea wagon, dishes, silverware, glassware, and China closet in my own home. My wife Patricia, my brothers and their wives, nieces, nephews, and our spiritually diverse extended families smile when we bring out the 'good dishes and gold silverware' to enjoy the Jewish holidays together. We all know that mom, dad, Aunt Evelyn, and Uncle Lou are kvelling from 'a heavenly place' that our family portrait brings joy to others.
‘I returned to my analog roots in recent years, using medium format film cameras and printing in the darkroom. I want to continue creating new work, digging into my archive, exhibiting, publishing, getting my art into permanent collections, traveling, and finding joy and a sense of purpose while remaining open-minded and welcoming new possibilities.’
Only recently, we had spoken about your photo book New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era, and now you’re presenting in Vichy. What’s next?
Several solo exhibitions and new books are on the horizon. "Souvenirs Fire Island 1970s: The Photography of Meryl Meisler," curated by the Fire Island Pines Historical Society, opens July 9th, 2022, at The Ice Palace Resort, Cherry Grove, Fire Island, NY, and will remain on exhibit throughout the summer.
Eyeshot will be publishing a book on my street photography from 1973 to 2022. A new NYC gallery is opening in Autumn 2022 with my work. Finally, an exhibit and related book are in the incubator stages of my fifty years in photography (gasp) retrospective show at my gallery, ClampArt...
I will be teaching two workshops: "The Streets of New York: a street photography workshop with Meryl Meisler” (in person, September 14–22, 2022) with Miami Street Photography Festival. "Revive Your Archive: Find, Polish and Share the Gems with Meryl Meisler" (online six sessions, October 12 – November 16) with the Los Angeles Center of Photography.
I returned to my analog roots in recent years, using medium format film cameras and printing in the darkroom. I want to continue creating new work, digging into my archive, exhibiting, publishing, getting my art into permanent collections, traveling, and finding joy and a sense of purpose while remaining open-minded and welcoming new possibilities. Health and well-being come first.
Hundred Heroines is hosting a free online presentation and discussion about QUIRKYVISION on July 6th. Register Here.
