Scherezade Garcia’s baroque paintings at Praxis Gallery of water-borne women are part of the ‘liquid turn’ or ‘blue humanities,’ explains Lesley A. Wolff in a gallery handout, a field of study that finds inspiration in the fluidity and transformative qualities of the sea. Characterized by their ‘cinnamon skin,’ which Garcia creates by mixing primary and secondary colors, and inspired by the artist’s female relatives, figures positioned directly in the water are a metaphor for ‘layered, fluid, transformative’ identities. Surrounded by lush flower swags, ornate scrolling forms, decorative lace and gold – from decorative tiles at the top to a duck-shaped life preserver – each character’s ornate environment speaks to a complex, self-inventing identity. (On view through Nov 4th).
Scherezade Garcia, Harvest of the Sea, acrylic, pigment, charcoal, ink on linen, 84 x 180 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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