Beautiful women and lush gardens contrast oppressive symbols like balls and chains or large metal keys in Arghavan Khosravi’s latest paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery. Here, ‘Patiently Waiting,’ features an explosive device with ambiguous consequences if used – will freedom or destruction result? Similarly, Khosravi’s gardens can be read in contradictory terms as commentary on life in her home country, Iran. The gallery explains, they “…represent the possibilities for respite afforded by private life or the image of utopian paradise promised by religious fundamentalism.” (On view on the Lower East Side through June 5th).
Arghavan Khosravi, Patiently Waiting, 2021, signed and dated verso, acrylic and cement on cotton canvas wrapped over shaped wood panel, wood cutout, polyester rope, 53 1/2 x 58 1/8 x 12 inches.
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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