Protesters and police clash in a blaze of color in British sculptor Tony Cragg’s 1987 piece ‘Riot’ a sculptural installation running the length of one of Lisson Gallery’s Chelsea spaces. Forty years ago, Cragg made a name for himself with artworks and installations composed of found plastic elements, a material that lacked the associations carried by more traditional media like bronze, marble or wood. Inspired by social unrest in ‘80s Britain, Cragg employs a modern material, fragmented and formerly discarded, to illustrate conflict between citizen and state. (On view in Chelsea through April 15th).
Tony Cragg, detail of installation of Riot, 1987 at Lisson Gallery in Chelsea, March ’23.
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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