Titled ‘Geography,’ Brazilian artist Leda Catunda’s current exhibition at Bortolami Gallery offers personal interpretations of the landscape in the form of fabric-based sculptures sourced from materials created by the fashion and decoration industries. Here, ‘Mapa Mundi’ juxtaposes the built environment (represented by swatches of plaid) with green areas inhabited by chickens. She adds rocks from a shoreline, a few bucolic scenes of country life and ominous patches of flame, all surrounded by flowing waters. Zones of striped colors suggest unknown aspects of life on the planet, in Catunda’s vision, a place created by our desire to define ourselves through images and design. (On view through Dec 23rd).
Leda Catunda, Mapa Mundi, acrylic and enamel on fabric, wood, plastic, velvet, voile, flags, rug and foam, 90 ½ x 118 1/8 inches, 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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