| The iconoclastic stance Charles Merrill takes as both an artist and activist goes far beyond the formalized calls of civic duty. “There is only so much you can do with paint on canvas,” he says. Nonetheless, Merrill continues to lay paint on canvas to express his perception of the violence permeating the increasingly intolerant attitudes of society. His latest series, Gay Activism in Art Form, was presented recently at Broadway Gallery in New York City with the intent of causing a stir in the social fabric of our time. A series of paintings were accompanied by a video installation arranged by Brandon Cuuichi, allowing viewers to witness Merrill being interviewed about his work. | 
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Francis Nelson on Charles Merrill
The iconoclastic stance Charles Merrill takes as both an artist and activist goes far beyond the formalized calls of civic duty. “There is only so much you can do with paint on canvas,” he says. Nonetheless, Merrill continues to lay paint on canvas to express his perception of the violence permeating the increasingly intolerant attitudes of society. His latest series, Gay Activism in Art Form, was presented recently at Broadway Gallery in New York City with the intent of causing a stir in the social fabric of our time.
A series of paintings were accompanied by a video installation arranged by Brandon Cuuichi, allowing viewers to witness Merrill being interviewed about his work.
His paintings present the uncanny juxtapositions of primitive forms and saturated candy colors, childlike imagery and sensitive, sexually violent issues. Merrill incorporates iconography into his prolific generation of homosexually-charged imagery from both past and present. His work is politically charged, and is often inspired by new developments in current events.
Merrill states that the pink triangles that reoccur in this body of work morbidly reference the badges that homosexuals were forced to wear in World War II by the Nazis, not the contemporary, re-purposed symbol of gay pride. The pink triangles—along with the target and rainbow symbols—serve as the focal point for many of the canvases, introducing a feminine and effeminate vernacular. A disquieting dialogue is formed by the interplay of arrows and triangles aimed towards these soft emblems, at times penetrating them.
Merrill works in both acrylic and oil paints to generate a bold and social dialogue across 36- by 48-inch canvases. His messages are clearly spoken through disquieting titles such as Oppressed Sexual Minorities and In Remembrance of Mathew Shepard. The paintings do not debase the idea of high art, rather indicate a shift in how art can be a platform for real and open social discourse. In this way Merrill’s work speaks to the history of political painting as in Soviet Constructivism, where visual composition is driven by the incentive to access the largest audience possible in the most effective manner.
Merrill’s paintings communicate that there is something beautiful and universal about a rich and varied social fabric, that is at risk of being lost or destroyed by the blind acceptance of ancient religious texts. In Merrill’s view, texts such as the Bible and the Koran are embedded in society and continue to dramatically shape the violence that plays out through various forms of racism and oppression.
While Merrill condemns religion for the suffering and discrimination homosexuals have been inflicted throughout modern history, he is also on a spiritual mission of his own. Merrill is drawn to the spiritual nature of various Native American and indigenous groups, who at times perceived homosexuals as enlightened, special beings. His simple forms and rainbows—inspired by Native American symbols—recall a time when homosexuality was not a weakness, but a gift.
Merrill brings to light an issue that remains both politically and socially volatile in today’s society. For Merrill, gay activism is equivalent to a fight against religious faith. His aim is to overcome the effects that organized religion has inflicted worldwide in the psyche and subconscious of our modern society. Known for his secret performance of burning a Koran at his undisclosed quarters in a Chicago hotel, Merrill has also repeatedly destroyed, or “edited” specific sections of Biblical text for similar reasons. While this was done reclusively, it was a potent and personalized demonstration of how repressed minorities must carry the burden of discrimination.
Additionally Merrill has at times worked more publicly as a performance artist, repeatedly taking a marker and scissors to eliminate specific sections of Thomas Kinkade’s Family Bible. These performances raise questions concerning the social responsibilities of the artist. When using art as a platform for social discussion, it seems that the artist must also gauge the public’s reaction to the work, in order to see if they have produced an accurate reflection of society and social issues.
“The role of the artists is to do thing that the politician won’t do or say,” Merrill states, and it is precisely this notion that has led him to make decisions such as refusing to pay taxes after the Clinton administration signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which excluded homosexual marriages from key tax benefits. Recently, a particularly painful turn of events came about when President Bush began promoting the amendment of the Constitution against gay marriage. Merrill feels that these trends of prejudices are the product of increasingly theocratic government structures.
Merrill finds religion to be a source of oppression for homosexuals, but he also sees religion as a force that denies individuals their self-responsibility and autonomy in the world. He believes that prominent religious texts need to be continually examined and raised to question in society. Merrill is an individual who chooses to follow, rather exclusively, scientific reasoning. While he admits that the feedback he has received from the gay public has been 50/50, he argues that even a large demographic of homosexuals are religious. His paintings emphasize the violent pain of oppression, but also the hope of change and progress away from prejudices that infringe upon individualism. All proceeds from the sale of his work go to the William Institute UCLA, Sexual Orientation Legal Think Tank.
