Ryan McGinness' approach to art and the art world is sardonic yet earnest, a mature version of the rebellious ethos that defined his youth in 90s skate culture. He’s soft-spoken and very tall, a gentle giant from Virginia Beach, long and far away from his current space on the top floor of a six-story former factory in New York's Chinatown. Beckett Mufson, “Ryan McGinness Thinks You’re Looking at Art Wrong,” The Creators Project, April 22, 2016

Merris’ sensibility is as organic and fluid as it is rigorous, as filled with wonder as it is informed by a sense of scientific reason, and it consistently navigates between such positions, seeing them not as oppositional, but naturally and intimately connected.

Dean Daderko, 2014

October 4: Benjamin Merris