BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Merly Trappenberg, 1955
Place of birth: Venezuela
Based in: Curaçao since 1993
Discipline: Painting, drawing, ceramics, and mixed media

EDUCATION

Civil Engineering, Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, Venezuela
Painting, drawing, and ceramics, Art Academy of Curaçao

BIOGRAPHY

Merly Trappenberg is a Venezuelan-born artist based in Curaçao since 1993. Her work finds the extraordinary in everyday life, portraying the people, streets, and cultural character of the island through bold color and expressive form. Women are central to her practice: she depicts large, self-assured Afro-Caribbean figures as symbols of strength, dignity, and cultural richness. Their blue or green eyes deliberately reflect Curaçao’s cultural diversity.

Her subjects range from street vendors and intimate portraits to nudes and Curaçao cityscapes. Working primarily in oil and mixed media on canvas and wood, she combines paint, texture, and other materials to create layered images rooted in Caribbean life. Her work is represented in several public collections, including the Governor’s House of Curaçao, the Tula Museum, and the Imago Mundi Collection.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2017 – Isla i Arte den nos Bida, Curaçao Museum, Curaçao
2016 – Art X Exhibition
2015 – Open Atelier Route, Curaçao
2013 – Libertat: 150 Years Abolition of Slavery, Fundashon Kas di Kultura, Curaçao
2012 – A Breast or Two, Mon Art Gallery, Curaçao
2011 – Art, Music and Dance Expressed by Us, NAAM, Curaçao
2007 – It’s All About Woman, Gallery Alma Blou, Curaçao
2006 – Opening Exhibition, Gallery Alma Blou, Landhuis Habaai, Curaçao

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Governor’s House of Curaçao, Willemstad, Curaçao
Tula Museum, Curaçao
Imago Mundi Collection, Luciano Benetton Collection