snowball

2016 - ongoing
miami & new york
performance with felt suit

snowball is an ongoing performance in which mercury attends art fairs throughout miami and new york wearing a handmade reproduction of joseph beuys’ felt suit. once inside the art fair, they sit in high traffic areas peddling live drawings to passersby. mercury neither asks permission nor announces themselves when performing this piece. selling art at an art event without permission, even in the guise of performance, doesn’t usually go over well with organizers. so mercury is usually escorted out by security.

beuys’ felt suit presents an interesting dilemma in art. despite being an edition of 100 most of the original suits have been decommissioned due to damage sustained while in storage. the moth-eaten suits currently live in institutional limbo; too flawed to display, yet too historical to discard. this sort of gray area is the ideal starting point for mercury’s process. the title, snowball, is nod to david hammonds.

 

jail break

2014
new york
reconstructed found art

jail break is a series of “translations” made from actual paintings by blue chip artist peter halley. halley describes his paintings as jails & prisons. having spent actual time in jail for art-related crimes, mercury tends to find humor in abstract references to incarceration. mercury spent months researching halley’s process before embarking on this journey of restorative subversion.

 

blue collar

2014
new york
mixed media performance

blue collar takes its cue from basquiat’s painting, light blue movers, which depicts two black men moving a piece of furniture. in mercury’s performance two latino men, working for a reputable art handling company, transport light blue movers from phillips de pury’s auction house to a private gallery. however, the whole production is simulation; the painting, uniforms, paperwork, company truck, and institutional interactions were created without permission. the original basquiat painting sold in 2008 for millions to a private owner. the video is edited to the song, 8 hour religion, by basquiat’s old band, gray

 

sebastian’s mosquito

2016
new york
mixed media installation

in 2016 the spring/break art fair chose the landmark post office on 8th ave as the location for their nyc show. on the eve of the opening patrons and organizers spent the day setting up for the fair. mercury entered the enormous federal building that day as an assistant. however, as everyone was leaving for the day mercury hid in a closet. when the building was cleared for the evening mercury snuck out and began preparing their own booth for the art fair. in the dead of night they scouted the countless rooms in search of materials and a space in which to create an improvised installation. after working all night, mercury managed to slip out before the arrival of staff in the early a.m. fliers were handed out at the opening to fair-goers inviting them to see the unsanctioned installation