Michael Mercil’s mural, Art is Good for You at 7777 Girard Ave., entreats the embrace of the arts, both in its creation and consumption. Painted directly on-site, this lively imperative reminds the viewer of the importance of art as a crucial and ubiquitous aspect of daily life. Taking inspiration from the playful messaging inside the box cover of Atomic Fireball candies, which reads, “Candy is good for you. Eat some every day.”
Mercil recontextualizes this cheeky reference, bringing the same level of panache and good humor into a public art setting. Comprised of a complementary color palette, orange capital letters outlined in red boldly pop out as the text runs horizontally across a placid blue background. Using text as a creative tool, Mercil inspires the viewer to appreciate the holistic benefits of a daily infusion of art as an integral aspect of our collective humanity. He expertly weaves his artful message into the surrounding environment, bringing a compelling and colorful belief in the benefits of art into the realm of everyday relatability.
Mercil’s interdisciplinary practice takes many forms, incorporating many mediums, including drawing, painting, needlepoint, sculpture, landscape architecture, film, performance, teaching, and farming. Born in Crookston, Minn., in 1954, he received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design in 1978 and an MFA from the University of Chicago in 1988. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University (OSU). Exploring realms of “the near, the low, the common,” Mercil’s work re-contextualizes culturally significant reference material through dynamic multimedia compositions.
Mercil’s work has been featured in many prominent institutions, including exhibitions at Beeler Gallery, Columbus College of Art and Design and Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York City; North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks; Arnoff Center for the Arts, Cincinnati; Ebert Art Center, Wooster, Ohio; The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia; and deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Mass. He lives and works in Columbus, Ohio.
His many other notable projects include The Living Culture Initiative, in collaboration with Ann Hamilton at OSU; The Beanfield (2006), The Virtual Pasture (2008–2011), and Site set-aside (2017–present) at Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus; and the Art Market, an ongoing, Columbus-based, studio project. He has received many awards and much recognition, including a Battelle Engineering, Technology and Human Affairs Endowment Award (2009, 2016); Greater Columbus Arts Council Media Artist Fellowship (2012); Wexner Center for the Arts Film/Video Artist Residency (2011–2012); Harpo Foundation Visual Artist Award (2010); Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship (2009, 2005); ASLA Design Honor Award (2009, 2003); and Environmental Design Research Association Place Design Award (2002).
THE SCRIPPS GILL LOGGIA
Rex Southwick’s mural, The Scripps Gill Loggia at 7905 Herschel Ave., showcases the legacy of renowned Southern California architect Irving Gill and the historical home of the prominent philanthropist and journalist Ellen Browning Scripps, a site that later became part of the original Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
A celebration of local history and philanthropy, Southwick’s painterly style and vibrant composition simultaneously weave together the connection between architecture and horticulture and the relationship between Scripps and Gill. The contribution of Gill’s notable architectural style and Scripps’s generous philanthropy helped to create the foundational character of present-day La Jolla.
The mural’s composition is dominated by a signature Gill arch, acting as both a reference to Gill’s trademark style and as a compositional device to invite the viewer into the space. Conceptually, the arch also acts as a threshold between past and present narratives of this historic site. The mural also has a strong visual reference to pairs — two workers, two palms, and two shadows — a nod to the collaboration of Gill and Scripps. The elegant synthesis of scale, composition, and historical site specificity creates a dynamic visual scape that is both grand and imposing yet fundamentally inviting.
Southwick’s painting practice weaves together the traditions of oil painting that echo the historicity of a site with contemporary innovation and a critical perspective. His highly saturated, large-scale paintings teeter on the precipice of two opposing worlds, the elite, and the working class, highlighting the labor that is required to maintain the pristine environments of wealth and privilege. By directly immersing himself in the workforce that sustains the affluent communities he depicts in his paintings, he constructs real-time observations of the hierarchical social, economic, and political structures that reinforce these inequitable systems. Following the path of other iconic British painters, Southwick confronts the landscapes of Southern California with a fresh and distinct sensibility, opening new points of observation of this often-idealized landscape.
Southwick was born in 1997 in England. He received a BFA from Leeds Art University in 2018 and lives and works in London. Southwick’s work has been featured in many notable institutions, including Unit London, a contemporary art gallery and platform in Mayfair; the Nassima Landau Art Foundation, Tel Aviv; Centre of International Contemporary Art Vancouver; and Taipei World Trade Centre. He received the Aon Community Art Award given to graduating artists from three British universities. He participated in a residency with the Palm Springs Art Museum in 2023, and his work is held in noteworthy private collections.
Murals of La Jolla was founded by the La Jolla Community Foundation and is now a project of the Athenaeum. The goal of the mural project is to enhance the civic character of the community by commissioning public art projects on private property throughout La Jolla. The Murals of La Jolla Art Advisory Committee is composed of the heads of the major visual arts organizations who commission artists to propose the intervention of an image on specific walls on privately owned buildings. Each work is on view for a minimum of two years and has been generously funded by private donations.
Murals of La Jolla demonstrate that commissioning artists to create works for public spaces brings energy and vitality to a community.
Photos by Philipp Scholz Rittermann