Egyptian artist Wael Shawky once said that “…art should be running after our own ignorance…” explaining that his artistic project arises from learning, particularly about how history has been constructed. In ‘Isle of the Blessed,’ the Egyptian artist’s current solo show at Lisson Gallery, Shawky presents a single-channel film and accompanying paintings that consider Greek mythology’s explanation of place names (e.g. Europa) as a way of deriving fact from fiction. Mysterious, cartoonish and a little haunting, paintings such as this one, ‘Isles of the Blessed XII,’ explore the boundaries between the fantastical and the real. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 14th).
Wael Shawky, Isles of the Blessed XII, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 1/10 x 3/5 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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