‘ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE’ is one of Jenny Holzer’s most famous ‘Truisms’ (a series of short quotes from academic texts she started collecting in the late 70s) and one that comes readily to mind in her current exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Gallery. Lining the walls and scattered on the floor are versions of ‘curse tablets’ popular in ancient Greece and Rome, small metal plates inscribed with ill wishes toward a rival. Holzer’s contemporary versions, printed on lead and copper, then distressed, bear tweets from Donald Trump and Q, founder of QAnon that appear to extend the tablet tradition into the present day. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 22nd).
Jenny Holzer, installation view of ‘Demented Words’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Sept 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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