David Gilhooly in ‘Craft Front and Center’ at the Museum of Art and Design

Whether they crown an ice cream Sunday or nestle between burger buns, late sculptor David Gilhooly’s recurring ceramic frogs humorously disrupt classic dishes.  A member of the California-based Funk Ceramic Movement, Gilhooly embraced the grotesque while picturing foods that should be tempting.  Here, a tower of bagels and donuts along with an about-to-topple coffee cup are delivered by a frog with skin resembling bread covered with poppy seeds. (On view in ‘Craft Front and Center’ at the Museum of Art and Design through Feb 13th.)


David Gilhooly, Bread Frog as a Coffee Break, glazed earthenware; hand wrought, 23 ½ x 15 ½ x 6 ½ inches, 1981-82.

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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)