ABOUT THE GALLERY
Founded in 1995, MARUANI MERCIER represents nineteen contemporary artists alongside its program of museum-quality historical exhibitions, whilst continuing to build on the legacy of several renowned estates. Showing established artists alongside young and emerging new talent, the gallery promotes dialogue across generations and continents. It also contributes to new scholarship across its programs by inviting prominent art historians and curators to collaborate on its exhibition catalogs and artist texts. Many of the gallery´s artists participate in international exhibitions and are today placed in important institutional collections worldwide.
Initially, the gallery’s program focused on celebrated American artists from the 1980s who, working within the medium of painting and sculpture, sought to reflect the aesthetic and social concerns of their time. This includes Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Ron Gorchov, Peter Halley, Jonathan Lasker, and Sue Williams.
Over the years, the gallery looked to a new generation of artists who, working within different media, also address topical subjects relating to history, politics, the environment, as well as questions of identity and authorship. Amongst these, Radcliffe Bailey, Esiri Erheriene-Essi, and Hank Willis Thomas examine topics surrounding Black history and culture whilst Lyle Ashton Harris looks at societal constructs of sexuality and race. Jaclyn Conley´s nostalgic paintings present a poignant rumination on the socio-political concerns of American life, whilst Tony Matelli confronts themes of isolation and impermanence with humor and irony.
In 2001, MARUANI MERCIER opened an additional gallery in the historic art town Knokke, followed by a 15,000 sq ft exhibition space and artist residency in Zaventem called THE WAREHOUSE in 2018. This expansion heralded a vanguard of young talent from West Africa including Kwesi Botchway and Cornelius Annor, who have participated in the residency program. Their inclusion in the gallery’s already versatile program ensures further engagement with the ever-changing canon of art history.
Since 2018, MARUANI MERCIER has been calculating its CO₂ footprint and offsetting it through projects in Malawi, Brazil, and Guatemala. We are proud to be one of the first carbon-neutral galleries in the world.
