When female octopi guard their eggs, they stop feeding themselves, dying as their babies mature. Multimedia artist Laure Prouvost’s latest solo show at Lisson Gallery celebrates this selfless participation in the cycle of life and connects it with human nurturing via combined imagery of human breasts and octopus arms. Huge cephalopod limbs emerge from a layer of sand scattered on the floor, inviting gallery visitors into a tactile underfoot experience while observing suction cups that occasionally resemble breasts or in one case, end in a breast-shaped lamp. Prouvost’s surreal mix of animal and human bodies foregrounds the importance of touch, feeling and sensuous enjoyment. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 14th).
Laure Prouvost, installation view of ‘Laure Prouvost: Stranded By Your Side,’ at Lisson Gallery, Sept 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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