At Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Merel has transformed the gallery into a vibrantly painted environment that surrounds and is in dialogue with, a series of brightly colored tubular sculptures. The playful arrangement of lines and color planes create illusions of space and form. Merel’s tropical palette is inspired by life in contemporary Panama, from the hectic streets of the capital city to its beautiful, natural landscapes with diverse plants, birds and animal life. Visitors to the immersive installation may also engage in an exploration of spatial dimensions using virtual reality technology. Wearing a VIVE headset and using controllers, visitors can choose from a selection of the artist’s components to build their sculpture in a virtual landscape.

Merel is part of a generation that grew up anticipating and then observing the passing of the control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama, and all the material and subtle changes that brought to everyday life. Similarly, effects of globalization and digital culture in the late 20th century have enabled Merel to engage in an international conversation about abstraction. Contextually his work may be understood in the legacy of renowned Latin American artists such as Helio Oiticica or Carlos Cruz Diez, or Americans Frank Stella and Sol Lewitt. However, Merel finds greater kinship with contemporary artists who engage in making art outside of the studio, in public spaces and the built environment, such as the Frenchman Nelio and Argentinian Felipe Pantone.

This exhibition, supported in part by the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Discovering Global Citizenship, is an initiative designed to engage the TCU community with the world while providing international and comparative experiences for students. The Art Galleries at TCU have worked in close collaboration with research partner Dr. Peter Szok (TCU History) to enable students studying the history and socio-economic landscape of art production in Central America to spend time with the artist and engage in his work. Merel’s virtual reality presentation is made possible by the generous assistance of on-campus partners Joshua Tooley (Information Technology Division) and Brad Trussell (Innovation Collaborator, Mary Couts Burnett Library).