Anya Kielar in ‘Somatic Markings’ at Kasmin Gallery

How do individuals, particularly women, live up to the roles society offers them and how do they shape those identities? Fluidity between these two positions is at the heart of Kasmin Gallery’s new group show Somatic Markings, a selection of work by seven artists whose unconventional depictions of the human body invite rejection of binaries.  Here, Anya Kielar’s shadow box sculpture ‘The Actress’ features a figure soliloquizing before a disembodied eye.  Inspired by Greek and Roman relief painting and shallow medieval carving among other sources, the title figure is cramped by her surroundings and depicted in such willowy forms that she appears infinitely capable of adaptation and change. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Anya Kielar, The Actress, paint, linen fabric, foam, aqua resin, wood and plexiglass, 40 ¼ x 30 ½ x 8 inches, 2020.

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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)