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How many exhibition works:
- 0 - 9
Exhibition Total Value:
- $40k - $50k
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
NEW YORK - In celebration of Women’s History Month, SLA Art Space is pleased to present Venus from the Block, the first solo exhibition by international artist Sierra Merda. On view March 19 – April 12th,
2026, the exhibition features 8 paintings (oil on canvas, paper and panel) created in New York between 2023 and 2025.
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 its 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. 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 visual traditions shaped by patriarchal structures, Merda (b. 1991, Vilnius) has spent her practice wrestling with 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 from the depths of
London’s squats to suburban towns in upstate New York, bringing underrepresented bodies into a visual language of beauty historically reserved for the few.
Gallery Hours:
Thursday 5-8 pm
Saturday 5-7 pm
Sundays 12 - 4 pm
And by appointment.
For press inquiries or further information, please contact:
Francine Rogers
francinernyc@gmail.com
Curator :
Artist:
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 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 exhibition and first solo exhibition in her twelve-year career.
Her work is 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.
About SLA.
Established in 2014 by Lithuanian Alliance of America, (SLA Art Space) is a Lithuanian cultural institution that is dedicated to creating and offering a wide range of cultural events including live performances, film screenings, panel discussions, and gallery exhibitions.
While the SLA Art Space mission is focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Lithuanian culture, it is equally determined to operate in a multicultural and inclusive manner, housing and promoting artists and performance events that fully reflect the cultural diversity of the New York City, inviting audiences of all ages and backgrounds to engage and share culture and art.
307 West 30th street New York, NY 10001
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