Luxury, power, and technology provocatively merge in Jonathan Monaghan’s mesmerizing digital images and new animation ‘Den of Wolves’ at Bitforms Gallery. Traditional symbols of monarchal authority – an ermine robe, a scepter – show up in the aisles of an otherwise empty big box outlet or a pristine, unpopulated Apple store, conflating old and new symbols of cultural clout. Still images titled ‘Sentry’ or ‘Soft Power’ picture the places and beings – composed of luxurious upholstery and architectural details – populating Monaghan’s eerie, too-perfect dystopia. (On view on the Lower East Side through June 12th. Masks and social distancing are required).
Jonathan Monaghan, Soft Power II, dye-sublimation on aluminum, painted maple frame, 27 x 22.5 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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