Tiles influenced by Moorish design and imported from Portugal to Brazil have long inspired Brazilian artist Adriana Varejao’s meditations on cultural and ethnic hybridity. Now focusing on Mexican Talavera tiles, Varejao’s new work at Chelsea’s Gagosian Gallery considers how the tiles relate to indigenous, Hispanic, Italian and Chinese ceramic production. At the center of the gallery, columns covered in tile are revealed to have meat-like cores that recall the white veined, red marble columns of Baroque architecture. For Varejao, Baroque culture – and the ‘chaotic pulsing matter’ of the columns – is predicated on accepting difference and embracing multiple identities. (On view in Chelsea through June 26th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Adriana Varejao, Talavera Meat Ruin I, oil on aluminum and polyurethane, 145 11/16 x 15 ¾ x 15 ¾ inches, 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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