Josiah McElheny’s current show of blown glass sculpture at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location was inspired by a set of references as complex as his mirrored environments but dazzles even without the background info. Prompted by a library imagined by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, McElheny creates vessels intended to house various forms of knowledge. In this sculpture, McElheny explains that oblong shapes embody the idea of atoms in motion and the planet on its elliptical orbit. Though we don’t literally see a library of knowledge relating to elliptical motion, each sculpture inspires wonder at the possibilities of what we may have not yet considered. (On view on the Lower East Side through June 12th. Masks and social distancing are required).
Josiah McElheny, From the Library of Elliptical Motion, Hand-blown, cut, polished, and mirrored glass; low-iron mirror and two-way mirror; electric light; walnut frame, 24 1/4 x 28 x 20 1/2 in, 2021.
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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