Since 2015, New Delhi-based artist Gauri Gill has worked with indigenous communities and craftsmen in the Indian state of Maharashtra to create arresting photographs of masked people in everyday situations. In recent work at James Cohan Gallery’s new Tribeca location, Gill continues to be inspired by the masks worn in annual, entire-community performances of religious rituals but has commissioned secular versions that deviate from the normal look and use of such masks. Collaborating with the individuals in the photos, Gill devises uncanny scenarios that momentarily bridge fictional and real worlds. (On view at 52 Walker, 2nd floor through Nov 13th. Masks required.)
Gauri Gill, detail of Untitled (64) from Acts of Appearance, archival pigment print, 60 x 40 inches, 2015 – ongoing.
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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