everybody’s favorite topic. especially in an election year.
for the essential nj arts, i interviewed the lambertville, nj painter gwenn seemel, who has been responding to crude pro-trump graffiti in a public park with some unauthorized art of her own. in a conversation that might be called freewheeling, we talked about the line between vandalism and constructive public expression, the aesthetics of the trump movement, and the political significance of uglification:
in its combative wisdom, new jersey puts the gubernatorial election and the jc mayoral election a year after the natural general election. that way, we can enter our regional election season in the right spirit: exhausted, bloodied, and suspicious of our neighbors. as it happens, our mayor is running for governor. that means we’re going to have somebody new in the state house and somebody new in city hall. periodically, i’ll have something to say about this. my first missive is on the equanimous jersey city times:
this is not an endorsement. not in the slightest. it’s just an acknowledgment that one of the mayoral candidates has made an impression on me through his public statements.
in the meantime, it’s time to think about art and music! previews of the year’s first jc art crawl and garden state art weekend will be up soon. keep letting me know what you’re doing, and i’ll keep looking, and listening, and writing.