Quinton Merada (b.1994) currently lives and works in Tacoma, WA, but also worked in Miami, FL and was born in St. Petersburg, FL. Growing up with two working class parents, Merada found an early interest and a deep passion for the arts. First attending art magnet programs at John Hopkins Middle School and then continuing his arts education at Gibbs High School in the Pinellas County Center for the Arts program. Merada eventually received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture at the University of Florida in 2018. Since graduation, Merada has built on his personal philosophies regarding his art practice and looking forward to furthering his education.

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A captivation with the underbelly of society lies at the core of conceptual sculptor, Quinton Merada’s, practice. Raised by a working class family, Merada developed a fascination with the disregarded from an early age. As a child, he remembers his father relying on labor unions to protect his rights and validate his worth as a worker. Unfortunately, in the United States, the working class has been repeatedly perpetrated with economic and social injustice. Although the new working class upholds this country’s integrity, it is consistently rendered invisible on social, economic, and political spectrums. Utilizing found objects, Merada displays an interest in the inherent histories and metaphorical significance of discarded objects and forgotten spaces. His practice re-contextualizes these objects in an effort to elevate and foreground those overlooked classes. As his work stirs thought and opens dialogues, he hopes to provoke thought and change among social spheres. His artworks recognize the triumphs of the working class while conducting critiques on the privileges of wealthy elites. Merada chooses to underscore the intersection of labor and leisure with dark humor, irony, and absurdist perspectives to examine the class structures that dictate modern society.

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