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Meryl Meisler: QUIRKYVISION at the PORTRAIT(S) Festival in Vichy

Art Spiel Photo Story

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Meryl Meisler, Close Shave Family Grooming (The Mystery Club), Merrick, NY 1975

Meryl Meisler’s QUIRKYVISION will be featured at Le Palais des Congrès de Vichy during the PORTRAIT(S) Tenth Annual Festival in Vichy, France, from June 24 through September 4, 2022. Meisler’s images of sizzling disco nights and strip-tease clubs, domestic Jewish family in Long Island suburbia, or life in a public school in one of the roughest Brooklyn neighborhoods—encapsulate with humor and a sharp gaze life at the 1970s and 1980s New York City area.

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Meryl Meisler, Two Disco Balls and Smokey dance Floor at Dupont’s Party, New York, NY 1977
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Meryl Meisler, Patou Within Tree, Studio 54, NY, NY, 1978
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Meryl Meisler, Self-Portrait Tap Dancing with Mom, North Massapequa, NY

Born in 1951, Meisler has been Inspired by Diane Arbus and Jacques-Henri Lartigue. She studied with legendary photographer Lisette Model while documenting her own life. Only in 2010, after retiring from being a teacher, she began releasing her archives, which led to the creation of this event. With a deep human empathy, Meryl Meisler’s photos capture moments of joy during hardship.

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Meryl Meisler, Boys Pose in Front of Car Wreck, Palmetto St., Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY 1983
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Meryl Meisler, Boy in a Tire, Palmetto St., Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, 1984

This tenth Portrait(s) Festival in Vichy will celebrate the arts in the plural and have a lot of surprises. The Grand Casino will be transformed into a temple of photography, with exhibitions, conferences, and projections before moving into the public space, in this spa city by the Allier River. The thirteen exhibitions feature work by Christophe Acker, Charlotte Boudon, Omar Victor Diop, Henrike Stahl, Marie Magnier, Meryl Meisler, Éric Poupy, Kourtney Roy, Komath Studio. Brigitte Patient. Christian Tagliavini. Alain Willaume, and photography by ninth-grade students at the Collège des Célestins.

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Meryl Meisler, Leaning on Car Outside Studio 54, NY, NY, 1975

All photos courtesy of Meryl Meisler

Note: Meryl Meisler will be present at Portrait(s) Vichy on June 24th and June 25th.