Pieter Schoolwerth’s new paintings at Petzel Gallery question human identity in a time when our on-screen personas are more prevalent than ever. Basing his images on screenshots of the life-simulation game The Sims 4, each digital avatar’s form is mingled with flat layers of grey surface and some have faces rendered in expressionist swirls of paint. Here, young women take a selfie while a horrified woman in a space suit (full protective gear?) looks on. The disorienting effect of paint vs inkjet print, vivid color vs drab grey and layers that have come unmoored from their source create a fascinating world of provisional realities. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 31st. Masks and social distancing are required and gallery capacity is limited. Visitors must give contact info.)
Pieter Schoolwerth, Shifted Sims #1 (Get Together) oil, acrylic, inkjet on canvas, 54 x 93 inches, 2020.
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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