PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sierra Merda: Venus from the Block
March 19th - April 12th
Opening reception: Thursday, March 19th, 5-9 PM
SLA Art Space | 307 W 30th Street, New York
Gallery Hours: Thursdays 4-7PM, Saturdays 5-7PM, Sundays 12-4PM & by appointment
Closing Party: 12th April 5-7PM
In celebration of Women’s Month, SLA Art Space is pleased to present Venus from the Block, a first solo exhibition of recent contemporary figurative paintings by international artist Sierra Merda. On view from March 19th through April 30th (SLA Art Space, 307 W 30th St, New York, NY 10001). The exhibition comprises works created over the past two years (2023-2025) in New York.
Venus from the Block explores beauty as something earned rather than inherited. Lives shaped by surviving the damage meted out by our world result in unique individuals whose strength reaches us as beauty.
This beauty is no abstraction; it is a presence. Merda’s work rejects the simple perfection of traditional Venus imagery, embracing the three-dimensionality that shadows create. Like Rembrandt before her, she sees shadow as the absence of grace, suffering reaching for light.
Drawing on a lineage that spans art history and contemporary lived experience, the exhibition frames beauty as something that emerges as a result. Beauty isn't found in places we're told it exists, but in previously unknown domains of resistance. These figures come alive through their gestures, glances, and spaces, narrating a lived tension between fragility and strength.
Born into a world whose language and visual traditions were shaped by patriarchal structures, Merda (b. 1991, Vilnius, Lithuania) has spent her practice wrestling with those inherited norms. Her earlier work confronted fear and subjugation directly; this new series moves toward celebration, the triumph found at the threshold of hardship and endurance. Merda’s modern muses come from varied social and geographic backgrounds - from the depths of London’s squats to suburban towns in upstate New York - bridging underrepresented bodies into a visual language of beauty historically reserved for the few.
About the Artist
Sierra Merda, who previously presented work under a different name, is a Lithuanian-born, London-raised painter and draftsperson currently based in New York City. She earned her B.A. in Painting and Drawing in 2013 from the University of Northampton (UK) and, in 2025, completed her MFA in Painting (Anatomy Track) at the New York Academy of Art, where she was awarded a postgraduate Chubb Fellowship (2025–present). Merda has participated in many group exhibitions across the UK, Europe and the United States, with Venus from the Block marking the 50th and first solo exhibition in her twelve-year career.
Her work is deeply rooted in punk, feminist, and underground visual cultures, alongside a sustained engagement with classical art. Merda’s practice subverts historical iconography while exploring contemporary lived experience, examining the body, beauty and survival through painting.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sierra Merda: Venus from the Block
March 19th - April 12th
Opening reception: Thursday, March 19th, 5-9 PM
SLA Art Space | 307 W 30th Street, New York
Gallery Hours: Thursdays 4-7PM, Saturdays 5-7PM, Sundays 12-4PM & by appointment
Closing Party: 12th April 5-7PM
In celebration of Women’s Month, SLA Art Space is pleased to present Venus from the Block, a first solo exhibition of recent contemporary figurative paintings by international artist Sierra Merda. On view from March 19th through April 30th (SLA Art Space, 307 W 30th St, New York, NY 10001). The exhibition comprises works created over the past two years (2023-2025) in New York.
Venus from the Block explores beauty as something earned rather than inherited. Lives shaped by surviving the damage meted out by our world result in unique individuals whose strength reaches us as beauty.
This beauty is no abstraction; it is a presence. Merda’s work rejects the simple perfection of traditional Venus imagery, embracing the three-dimensionality that shadows create. Like Rembrandt before her, she sees shadow as the absence of grace, suffering reaching for light.
Drawing on a lineage that spans art history and contemporary lived experience, the exhibition frames beauty as something that emerges as a result. Beauty isn't found in places we're told it exists, but in previously unknown domains of resistance. These figures come alive through their gestures, glances, and spaces, narrating a lived tension between fragility and strength.
Born into a world whose language and visual traditions were shaped by patriarchal structures, Merda (b. 1991, Vilnius, Lithuania) has spent her practice wrestling with those inherited norms. Her earlier work confronted fear and subjugation directly; this new series moves toward celebration, the triumph found at the threshold of hardship and endurance. Merda’s modern muses come from varied social and geographic backgrounds - from the depths of London’s squats to suburban towns in upstate New York - bridging underrepresented bodies into a visual language of beauty historically reserved for the few.
About the Artist
Sierra Merda, who previously presented work under a different name, is a Lithuanian-born, London-raised painter and draftsperson currently based in New York City. She earned her B.A. in Painting and Drawing in 2013 from the University of Northampton (UK) and, in 2025, completed her MFA in Painting (Anatomy Track) at the New York Academy of Art, where she was awarded a postgraduate Chubb Fellowship (2025–present). Merda has participated in many group exhibitions across the UK, Europe and the United States, with Venus from the Block marking the 50th and first solo exhibition in her twelve-year career.
Her work is deeply rooted in punk, feminist, and underground visual cultures, alongside a sustained engagement with classical art. Merda’s practice subverts historical iconography while exploring contemporary lived experience, examining the body, beauty and survival through painting.
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For press inquiries or further information, please contact:
Francine Rogers [email protected] For more information, visit: Artist website: www.sierramerda.com SLA Art Space: www.slaartspace.org Follow on Instagram: @SierraMerda |
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Venus from the Block, oil paints on canvas, 90 x 72", 2024
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