Five huge photorealist portraits by Israeli-New Yorker Roy Nachum dominate the creatively titled Chelsea gallery ‘A Hug from the Art World.’ The sense of immediacy that their size generates in this compact space is amplified by expressionist painting on their surfaces. At first puzzling for the contrast between styles, an upstairs video reveals the paintings to be layered portraits, collaborations between Nachum and blind makers like Rosie Lopez, pictured here. Once explained, the portraits become fascinating expressions of self-representation. (On view through May 7th).
Roy Nachum, Rosie Lopez, oil on canvas, 84 x 71 inches, 2015 – 2022.
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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