Meridith Ridl

Meridith Ridl

Statement | Biography

MERIDITH RIDL • Statement

With images that include things torn, scattered, wrinkled, and worn as well as pairs, bows, threads, and words, my work often intertwines suggestions of impermanence and loss with suggestions of intimacy and connection. Subjects closely rendered may coexist with the abstract, the pretty with the awkward, reassurance beside uncertainty. Things ordinary, overlooked, discarded, or delicate often become players in the work with hope that even these fragile traces—a wrinkle, a drip, the heat left on a pillow—can be tangible reminders, connecting us to the transitional nature of being and to the intimacy that unfolds within the mundane.

MERIDITH RIDL • Biography

EDUCATION

2001
M.F.A. University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1997
B.A. Studio Art, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio (Phi Beta Kappa)
Watson Fellowship for a year of artistic study in France (Paris and Aix en Provence)

ONE PERSON & SMALL GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011
While we tap our feet or shift our weight, The Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan (two person exhibition)

2010
Torn, Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac, Michigan (solo exhibition)

2007
Wake, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, GA (solo exhibition)

2006
Constellation, The Museum of the Ciudad, Queretaro, Mexico (solo exhibition)
Wake, The Museum of the Ciudad, Queretaro, Mexico (solo exhibition)

2005
Four Under Forty, The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan (four person exhibition)
Still, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois (solo exhibition)

2004
Wake (I), The Gainey Gallery, Byron Center, Michigan (solo exhibition)

2003
Fragments, Westminster College Art Gallery, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania (solo exhibition)

2002
Measures, University of Toledo Multicultural Center Gallery, Toledo, Ohio (solo exhibition)

2001
Lineage, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan (supported by Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, solo exhibition)
In a Feminine Voice, Ann Arbor Arts Center, Michigan (four person exhibition)

2000
Threads II, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, Pennsylvania (solo exhibition)

1998
Threads, MacKenzie Art Gallery, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio (solo exhibition)

1997
Between the Lines, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio (solo exhibition)

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2009
The Nines Prize, The Nines Gallery, Holland, MI (invitational)

2005
The Butler Midyear Exhibition, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, PA (national juried exhibition)

2004
59th Juried Exhibition, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa (Honorable Mention; juried exhibition; catalogue)

2002
Urban Voodoo, Mars Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
42nd Annual Greater Michigan Art Exhibition, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Annual All Media Exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Influence, The Gainey Gallery, Byron Center, Michigan (invitational)
Art Michigan, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Recent Work: Faculty Exhibit, Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac, Michigan

2001
Holland Friends of Art 38th Annual Exhibition, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan (Best of Show; juried exhibition)
University of Michigan MFA Thesis Exhibition, John Paul Slusser Gallery: The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Storefront Studios, Community Arts Exhibition, Holland, Michigan
The Hoyt National, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, Pennsylvania (juried exhibition)

2000
Ego-Berry, Nagoya University of Arts, Japan (invitational)
Celebrate Michigan Artists, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, Michigan (Honorable Mention; juried exhibition; catalogue)
Off the Wall, The Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan (Honorable Mention; juried exhibition)Great Lakes Regional Art Exhibition, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Our Town 2000, The Community House, Birmingham, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Haunt, Warren Robbins Center: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (invitational)
Blue, John Paul Slusser Gallery: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (juried exhibition; catalogue)
Nocturne: A Show of Prints, The Nines Gallery, Holland, Michigan
Small Works, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, Michigan
Hydra, Jean Paul Slusser Gallery: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, Michigan (Honorable Mention; juried exhibition)
Bits ‘n Pieces, Warren Robbins Center: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1999
Annual All Media Exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Twelfth Annual Michigan Art Competition, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan (juried exhibition)
Small Works, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, Michigan
Petite Art by Colossal Artists, The Nines Gallery, Holland, Michigan
Fine Lines, Photographs, & Graphic Details, The Nines Gallery, Holland, Michigan

1998
Grand Opening Exhibition, The Nines Gallery, Holland, Michigan

1997
Hoyt Regional Art Exhibition, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, Pennsylvania (Print Center Award of Excellence; juried exhibition)

HONORS & AWARDS

2001
University of Michigan Thesis Grant

1997
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a year of artistic study in France
Phi Beta Kappa Prize, The College of Wooster Departmental and Senior Independent Study
Honors, The College of Wooster

1996
Netta Strain Scott Prize in Art for outstanding ability in creative Studio Art, the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio