Join the Mermaid Tea Party

When I first saw Zita Nagy’s pictures, I felt that certain inner tickle, when something is so hideous, that it seems genius. I’ve spent my teens in the ’90-s, so a picture about Britney and Justin in a glowing neon heart was uncomfortably familiar. Flying dolphins in front of a sparkly rainbows made me crack up and the name itself, Mermaid Tea Party, blew me away. I first met the pictures and then get to know the artist and the story behind. Zita is a skilled graphic designer, who experimented with various styles and techniques, as you can see it on her blog. After many years of learning and practice she slowly turned towards kitsch. One of the reasons was that she was frustrated about the fact that everything was painted before. Zita started to play with the idea of what would have happened if she hasn’t learnt to draw or paint. She started to use ready made pictures and made collages, inspired by trashy pop culture. She raised a question: why she can graduate with a project like this and why is her installation inside an art gallery? Quoting her: ” I just wanted to hold a mirror” And she did. The installation called Mermaid Tea Party was a projection of her 2D pictures. She designed an underwater living room with rainbow coloured chairs, a fake Venice mirror table and a rotating lamp glued together with knick-knacks. The chairs have an altar painted on their back and horses on it’s seats, if somebody sits on them, they say: I love you. She also designed a fanzine and a video about the installation. After graduation she decided to do a new picture almost every day. Aesthetics of craft and DIY inspires her these days. Zita’s next big project will be a clothing line with her pictures. I will definitely be a buyer. Check out Mermaid Tea Party’s Facebook page here.