Meryl Dee Feuer, a Long Island–based artist known for her bold symbolic paintings and emerging pickleball-themed work, has applied to have several of her paintings displayed alongside Eclipse of the Sun by George Grosz at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington.
Painted in 1926, Eclipse of the Sun is one of Grosz’s most searing critiques of political power, depicting a society ruled by greed, militarism, and corruption. Grosz, a leading figure of Germany’s New Objectivity movement, used sharp symbolism and distortion to expose the moral failures of his time.
Feuer’s application proposes a contemporary dialogue between her abstract, symbol-driven paintings and Grosz’s historic work, particularly in the context of the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence. She Feuer describes Grosz not as a stylistic influence but as an ethical one, citing his belief that painting can function as witness and challenge authority.
Her works feature reimagined stars, stripes, dots, suns, and fractured horizons. Rather than literal imagery, Feuer uses repetition and spatial tension to suggest systems, instability, and renewal. She describes independence as “an unfinished experiment,” reflected through compositions that feel ordered at first glance but reveal imbalance and questioning beneath the surface.
The Heckscher Museum of Art, founded in 1920, is one of Long Island’s premier cultural institutions, known for pairing historic works with contemporary voices and for exhibitions that explore social, political, and artistic change.
Beyond this application, Feuer has gained growing attention as what collectors describe as the world’s first “pickleball artist.” Drawing inspiration from the sport’s geometry and movement, she has created a distinct body of work centered on the pickleball itself, transforming the familiar yellow ball into a symbolic, often surreal form. Art collector and author Dr. Harvey Manes has praised her for elevating a recreational sport into a personal visual language.
Feuer, who works from her Westhampton Beach studio, says she sees no separation between play, movement, and serious artmaking. Whether her work ultimately hangs beside Grosz or not, her application positions her paintings as part of an ongoing conversation about democracy, creativity, and the responsibility of art to remain alert.