Inspired by visions that came to her during her qigong practice, late Chinese artist Guo Fengyi created towering scrolls now on view in Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location. The Drawing Center’s concurrent show of Guo Fengyi’s work has not reopened, but visitors can take in Gladstone Gallery’s handsome presentation in Chelsea. Described by a 4 Columns critic as ‘like anthropomorphic burls in trunks of enchanted trees,’ each drawing depicts a mythical or spiritual character (from Santa Claus to Yamantaka) that emerges from or merges into dense swirls of drawn line. (On view through Fall ’20. Masks and social distancing are required. Appointments are encouraged.)
Guo Fengyi, (detail of) Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng, colored ink on rice paper, 157 ¾ x 27 ½ inches, 2004.
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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