Alice Tippit’s pared-down, graphically bold paintings – now on view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery – feature clearly defined objects seen in silhouette, yet they are deliberately difficult to read. Carefully chosen titles add to the ambiguity and to the sense that the potential meaning behind each painting is a puzzle to be cracked. This painting’s blue/white color scheme hints at icy ocean depths alluded to in the title ‘I Sea,’ which is also reminiscent of the frosty response, ‘I see.’ Balance creates additional drama as a floating hammer supports a possibly fragile vase on which rests a cigarette that recalls a smoking gun. (On view in Tribeca through April 29th.
Alice Tippit, I Sea, oil on canvas, 18h x 15w 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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