The hopscotch grid stands out in this painting by Raymond Saunders, now on view in the renowned Bay Area artist’s first New York solo show in 20 years at Andrew Kreps Gallery in Tribeca. Evoking a childhood game drawn out on blacktop as well as marks on a chalkboard, references to growth, learning and play are reinforced by the work’s title, ‘Celeste Age 5 Invited Me To Tea.’ Two children’s drawings of a wayward cat and a reference to Carnegie Mellon alongside a watermelon (the artist attended Carnegie Institute of Technology) link to Saunders’ recurring themes relating to education and race. (On view through Feb 12th).
Raymond Saunders, Celeste Age 5 Invited Me To Tea, mixed media on canvas, 104 x 83 1/8 inches, 1986.
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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