The title of Bay Area artist Clare Rojas’ show at Andrew Kreps Gallery, ‘Go Placidly,’ captures the quiet and restrained feel of paintings featuring a reserved, dark-haired woman. It also casts an ominous pall on this painting, ‘They Were Both Stuck Inside,’ in which it appears that a woman who has fallen from a ladder (perhaps in an interaction with the bird in the background) has ‘gone’ in a final way. Complicated by a tiny mosquito which has landed on the woman’s leg, the painting’s narrative – perhaps best explained by a book on the back table titled ‘The Same Old’ – suggests that sometimes the unexpected arrives in a profoundly impactful way. (On view through May 6th).
Clare Rojas, They Were Both Stuck Inside, oil on linen, 60 x 43 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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