Amid glinting filigree and chains, an emaciated figure plays a horn above two skeletons in Hew Locke’s photograph embellished with mixed media. Underneath is an image of a public sculpture memorializing Peter Stuyvesant, namesake of several New York landmarks and the Dutch governor who saw slavery as an engine to drive New York’s colonial economy. In his first solo show at PPOW Gallery in Chelsea, Locke alters portraits of public figures to examine how their lives and decisions have extended beyond their sanctioned, public images. (On view through Nov 10th).
Hew Locke, Stuyvesant, Jersey City, c-type photograph with mixed media, 72 x 48 inches, 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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