Sawyer Croft Drawing

Merrilyn Duzy is an American artist, lecturer, and instructor in Art Studies whose work has been exhibited worldwide. A founder of the West Florida Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art and past-President of the Southern California chapter, she is widely regarded for her series on Women’s Place in Art History and for her work celebrating female eroticism. Born in 1946, Duzy grew up in Southern California. Her Catholic upbringing sparked an interest in religious art, and an illustrated family Bible, depicting saints in bondage and ecstasy engendered her life-long fascination with the spiritual side of eroticism. In the 1970s, she curated a number of controversial exhibitions including “Erotic Visions” in Westwood, California—the first such exhibit of women’s erotic art on the west coast. Inspired by the feminist art movement, Duzy realized that women’s place in Art History was greatly under-represented. In 1982 she created her illustrated lecture, “Walking Through History: Women Artists Past and Present” which she has presented in the United States, Israel, and Asia. In the early 1980s, she produced her most important and unique series of oil paintings, Women Artists in History. Thirty artists are represented, beginning with 10th-century Spanish nun, Ende, and concluding with Frieda Kahlo. In this remarkable achievement, each portrait is painted in the style of that artist, capturing the stunning beauty and importance of her work. After earning her Master of Fine Arts Degree at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1988, Duzy has lectured at Los Angeles City College, Mission College, Sylmar, CA, and The Atelier Art Center. She continues to exhibit her work throughout the United States. Merrilyn Duzy lives in Southern California where she paints, curates, and lectures. Her latest work is taking new directions with imagery of the cosmos, spirituality, and landscapes based on her extensive world travels.