At 122 feet long, Shanghai-based artist Zhang Huan’s epic painting of Mao surrounded by hundreds of government members and followers forcefully demonstrates the Chinese leader’s power just a short while before the Cultural Revolution began. Created in ash gathered from Buddhist temples, a material Zhang identifies with ‘collective longings, wishes of the people,’ the piece demonstrates the continued sway of history on contemporary life and politics. (At Chelsea’ Pace Gallery through Dec 12th).
Zhang Huan, June 15, 1964, ash on linen, 9’ 5/16 x 122 ‘ 11/16”, 2013.
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Merrily Kerr
Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education.
For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine.
Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)
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