Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson at Pierogi Gallery

Boxes are stacked floor to ceiling and charts dominate a claustrophobic space introduced as ‘The Truth Workshop,’ an installation by artists Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson at Pierogi Gallery.  The artists conceived this drably colored, overwhelmingly crowded room as the place where the secretive powers-that-be concoct what the public will believe to be truth.  Stacked boxes labeled ‘Fake News Homeruns,’ or ‘Classic Inside Jobs’ house the juicy details of manufactured truths while rows of books with titles like ‘Trashing the Planet’ offer instruction on nefarious activities.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 11th. Appointments are not necessary.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson, installation view of ‘The Room Where it Happened,’ at Pierogi Gallery, Sept 2020.

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Merrily Kerr

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)