Afri-Spiritus Sembler: Diasporic Art Work, The Paintings of Mero’e Rei

Mero’e Rei

A “meet and greet the artist” event will be held on Saturday, April 6, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the Boardroom on the fourth floor of the Central Library. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition Afri-Spiritus Sembler: Diasporic Art Work displayed in Central Library's Fourth Floor Gallery will run from April 2-May 10.

Mero’e Rei had an interest in art from an early age and began producing works of art as a teenager. His love for jazz, blues, and gospel serves as the inspiration for many of his pieces. His interest in African cave and rock art has inspired his later works. Rei has shown extensively in both solo and group exhibitions.

Rei is a native of the southern region of Alabama near Mobile. He graduated from high school in Birmingham, Alabama, then attended the University of Alabama where he studied ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking. He later received his B.A. at the State University of New York. Rei is retired from the Office of Personnel Management of the United States Federal Government. He also served in the United States Navy as a medical corpsman. He gave many years as a clergyman in the Alabama West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. In his spare time, he studied art in galleries and museums in Spain and the Middle East.

Artist Statement:
“My art is a visual study of Jazz music… inspired by the African spiritual diaspora transmuted with connection to ancient and modern elders. These inclinations are visualized in intrinsic colors, organic forms and spontaneous rhythmic patterns, utilizing fresco and a mixture of mediums as ebbing tides and flowing waves of colors emanating from my life force and internal representations. My style of work contains Color Field, Gestural and Lyrical Abstract Expressions.”

Visit the artist’s website for more information: www.meroerei.com.

To purchase prints of the artist’s paintings, go to: 2-meroe-rei.fineartamerica.com.