Rithika Merchant “LUNA TABULATORUM”

Stephen Romano

poster for Rithika Merchant “LUNA TABULATORUM”
[Image: Rithika Merchant "Lycanthropy" (2015) Gouache and Ink on Paper 50 x 70 cm]

This event has ended.

Stephen Romano Gallery presents its inaugural solo exhibition in it’s new Bushwick location of a one person exhibition of a new series by RITHIKA MERCHANT entitled “LUNA TABULATORUM”.

Rithika Merchant was born in Bombay India in 1986, and studied at Hellenic International Studies In The Arts, Paros, Greece and received her BFA with honors from Parsons The New School For Design, New York, U.S.A. in 2008. Since that time Rithika has had solo exhibitions in Portugal, Mumbai, India, Barcelona, Spain, and most recently in Nuremberg, Germany. Her art has appeared in several group exhibitions as well, including The Armature Project in Grand Central Station, New York, Articule Gallery, Montréal, Madder Moon Gallery, Singapore, In Missa Interfectionis Stephen Romano Gallery, Brooklyn, Metro Curates Art Fair at The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, Summerhall, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Morbid Anatomy Museum on Brooklyn New York.

Rithika Merchant’s art has been published frequently including Hi-Fructose Magazine, Widewalls, The Times of India, Disinformation, The Economic Times, Juxtapoz Magazine, and many others. This is Rithika Merchant’s first solo exhibition in New York.

Of her works in the exhibition “LUNA TABULATORUM” Rithika Merchant says:

“For nearly all of the recorded history of mankind, the moon, the brightest object in the night sky, and the only celestial body with features visible to the naked eye - has captured the imagination and interest of people everywhere. There are countless odes to the moon in music, literature, art and religion. The moon had been linked to madness, transformation, femininity and the occult.

The moon was also thought to be the resting place of the gods, hence the moon’s earliest significance was sacred. The moon and the sun are the foundations on which many of the world’s ancient religions have been founded.

Islam follows a lunar calendar, In Kabbala Judaism the moon is the symbol of King David. In Hinduism, Shiva is symbolized by the moon. Many well known mythologies feature lunar deities as well, such as Greek goddesses Artemis and Selene and male gods such as Sin of Mesopotamia and Ibis of Thebes.

The monthly cycle of the moon has also been linked to the menstrual cycle by many cultures. There are links between the words for menstruation and moon in many languages. I see the moon as a meaningful universal object that links humanity by its importance, its presence and its significance. Being particularity interested in creating links between cultures the moon has been a very enlightening muse.”

— RITHIKA MERCHANT 2015

Rithika Merchant (b. 1986) deals with creating mosaics of myths that question received histories that are available to us throughout culture. An inherent feminism exists in her decoration undermining the minimalism of modernity that views a woman just as a muse.

In 2008 she graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Parsons the New School for Design in New York. She has studied painting and conceptual practice at the Hellenic International Studies In The Arts in Paros, Greece. In 2008 she was a resident at the Convento Sao Francisco Mertola in Mertola, Portugal.

Her recent projects include an international residency where she researched the folk culture of the native German speaking Swabians in Garana a village in the Banaat region of Romania as a part of Arthouse Wolfberg/Garana where she was commissioned for a triptych for the regional art museum.

She has had two solo showings in Mumbai - “Origin of Species” in 2011, followed by “Mythography” in 2013. Recent exhibitions include a solo show “Encyclopaedia of the Strange” in Nuremberg,Germany, a duo show “Reliquaries: The Remembered Self” in Mumbai, India, as well as group shows in Edinburgh, Scotland and Kochi, India.

Her work was also included in multiple group shows at Stephen Romano Gallery in New York, including “In Missa Interfectionis, Verum” The Dance with Death October - April 2015, “Abundantia Cornu Copiae, Breviter” and “Metro Curates” the Metro Art Fair 2015.

Rithika Merchant is represented in the USA by Stephen Romano Gallery.

Born in Bombay she now divides her time between Bombay and Barcelona.

Media

Schedule

from September 03, 2015 to October 15, 2015

Opening Reception on 2015-09-03 from 17:00 to 21:00

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