Young Toronto-based painter Vanessa Maltese has a different take on the shoe as object d’art. In a show titled, ‘Company,’ it appears that she has invited guests who have removed their shoes in an empty gallery, then disappeared. In fact, each piece of footware is cast aluminum, painted in oil. Too clean to compare to Van Gogh’s famous paintings of heavily used shoes, these sneakers have some travels yet to complete. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd).
Vanessa Maltese, in the foreground: Ari (company), oil on cast aluminum and socks, 4 x 4 x 12 inches, 2016.
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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