Yucef Merhi: Open
Opens September 2 at the Bonnier Gallery in Miami's burgeoning Allapattah art district
In 1985, when pioneer digital artist Yucef Merhi was only eight years old and growing up in Caracas, he reverse-engineered his ATARI 2600 and turned it into a programmable computer.
He used the Atari Video Computer System to produce generative videos based in language instructions. A leading art critic at the time saw this and proclaimed: “What you have created here, Yucef, will be considered a work of art in years to come.”
Decades later, Merhi’s seminal creations would be exhibited at the New Museum in New York and would travel all over the world in international exhibitions, celebrated as the first works of art crafted from a videogame console. Watch a video that demonstrates one of these original 1985 works at youtu.be/zvcDaDcYo6g.
Opening up a panoramic view of Merhi’s inner worlds, the new show Yucef Merhi: Open at The Bonnier Gallery captures the far-reaching consequence of his orbit around contemporary culture. For the viewer experiencing Merhi’s art, this often results in mind-expanding encounters with language.
In addition to announcing the opening of this new show, the Gallery is also sharing the news from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that Yucef Merhi was chosen for the MIT Open Documentary Lab ‒ opendoclab.mit.edu.
After a rigorous selection process, Merhi is the only artist from Miami (and from all of Florida) to be selected among Fellows from around the world invited by MIT.
They were chosen by MIT because they are considered to be definers in their fields ‒ leaders who deepen the impact and reach of innovative reality-based storytelling. Many of the winners combine influential, multiple roles as award-winning technologists, artists, academics, and activists.
There's so much more to his story - check out the exhibit to see more!
Merhi has a Master’s from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. His work has been shown at museums and galleries worldwide, including:
The New Museum (New York); LACMA (Los Angeles); The Bronx Museum of the Arts (NY); El Museo del Barrio (NY); Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin); De Appel (Amsterdam); La Colonie (Paris); Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul); The Bass (Miami Beach); Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas; the Coral Gables Museum (Miami), and Locust Projects (Miami); as well as the 30th Ljubljana Biennial; the 13th Cuenca Biennial; and the Bienal de São Paulo-Valencia.
Merhi’s work is represented in numerous collections, including: the Orange County Museum of Art (Newport Beach); Library of Congress (Washington DC); Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporaneo (Bajadoz); Galeria de Arte Nacional (Caracas); and the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (Miami).
He is the recipient of several awards, including: a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Digital/Electronic Art; a CIFO Grant & Commissions Program Award; AIM Fellowship at The Bronx Museum of the Arts; and an Ellies Creator Award/Oolite Arts. View the artist’s complete bio here.
The Bonnier Gallery -- 3408 N.W. 7th Ave, Miami. Open Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
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