Titled ‘The UFOs,’ Peruvian artist Arturo Kameya’s new show at Tribeca’s GRIMM Gallery conveys an otherworldly atmosphere through dark-toned paintings (made more subdued by mixing paint with clay powder) that tell strange tales. A man buried alive attracts the attention of news crews in one image while an ancient Peruvian mummy emerges from a cooler bag in another. Even the everyday can seem bizarre as a roach sits up, eating from a tiny plate in one picture while in another, a shower-head/water heater dangerously mixes water and electricity. Here, a planter cut and painted to resemble a swan seems to come to life to sip water from a leaky hose that has morphed into a fountain, blurring the lines between the real and man-made nature. (On view through May 6th).
Arturo Kameya, Swan Lake, acrylic and clay powder on canvas, 29 5/8 x 25 5/8 x 1 ½ inches, 2023.
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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