It can be easy to focus on the bright, pop side of Takashi Murakami’s production, even as his cute, anime-inspired characters sprout fangs. His current solo show on all three floors of Perrotin’s Lower East Side gallery continues to probe darker sides of life (a strain in his work that’s grown since Japan’s 2011 tsunami and earthquake) by engaging with select paintings by Francis Bacon. Here, Bacon’s famous painting of rival and friend Lucian Freud is springboard for Murakami’s own alternative characters – multi-eyed alien creatures that suggest humor and menace in equal measure. (On view through June 17th).
Takashi Murakami, Untitled, acrylic, gold and platinum leaf on canvas mounted on aluminum frame, h: 197.8 x l: 147.5 cm (each), 2018.
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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