2022 was not kind to Jersey City artists. It was defined by hesitancy, half-measures, and a doozy of a pandemic hangover. 2023, by contrast, is off to a roaring start. Our early-blooming shows have been glorious. If the first JC Fridays event of the year is often a survey of the scene and an indication […]
Tris McCall
Tris McCall has written about art, architecture, performance, politics, and public culture for many publications, including the Newark Star-Ledger, the Bergen Record, Jersey Beat, the Jersey City Reporter, the Jersey Journal, the Jersey City Independent, and New Jersey dot com. He also writes about things that have no relevance to New Jersey. Not today, though.
Posted inPerforming Arts
Rogue Waves March: Musical Events in Jersey City
This column is designed to call your attention to live music. Multimedia installations with recorded sound are a completely different kind of experience— usually one involving less moshing and fewer bottles of beer. But some art shows with musical dimensions are so weird and intriguing that they barge into the conversation about local musical events […]
Posted inPerforming Arts
Two New Jersey Albums: Kena Anae and American Watercolor Movement
Kena Anae Hold On! Electric Songs of Protest Vol. 1 Study Group Records What sort of revolution is Kena Anae after? Certainly not a bloody one: this is a soul man with a disposition so sugary that he’s inclined to take political advice from a fortune cookie. Though Hold On! Electric Songs of Protest Vol. 1 lays on […]
Posted inVisual Arts
A Jersey City Artist Paints His Way Through Cancer Treatment
Three and a half months ago, Thomas John Carlson, of the Jersey City Art School, shook up Art Fair 14C with a wallful of historical paintings distinguished by their sensitivity, energy and imagination. The paintings were full of drama, struggle, and acute observations of human beings under duress. His turn at the fair reminded local […]
Posted inPerforming Arts
“The You Voice” Closes at MANA With a One-Of-A-Kind Multimedia Performance
In the middle of a circle of black chairs, a woman struggled with an imaginary object. She pulled it toward her, and then pushed it away, and then brought it back to her body. With each shove, she inched one foot closer to her invisible target. The other remained fixed. Her muscles tensed, and her […]
Posted inVisual Arts
Deep Space Looks Into the Future With “The Art of Divination”
Even if Pamela Coleman “Pixie” Smith and A.E. Waite hadn’t designed the modern prototype of the Tarot deck in 1909, people would’ve still used cards to tell fortunes. It just wouldn’t have been as fun, or as illuminating, or as spooky. The Rider-Waite deck (which really ought to be called the Smith-Waite deck) concentrated mystical […]
Posted inVisual Arts
Strong Shows in Tight Corners at 150 Bay Street
There’s nothing inside Gallery number 265 at 150 Bay Street. It’s still easy to see into the room — those doors are made of glass — but these days, the only things visible in there are white walls and a brown cement floor. The blank space is a reminder of one of the more unfortunate occurrences […]
Posted inVisual Arts
Anthony E. Boone Thrills at Commuter Gallery
I hope that Anthony E. Boone will not take it as a grievous offense when I suggest that his artwork could easily hang in a corporate atrium. (Perhaps it already does somewhere.) The sinuous quality of his lines, the soothing feeling of his juxtapositions of color, and his studied sense of composition add up to a […]
Posted inPerforming Arts
Rogue Waves February: Six Concerts and an Entreaty
It’s the first of the month, and that means we’ve got some more Jersey City shows to discuss. But before we do, I’ve got an urgent entreaty for you. If you’re in a band, or if you’re a rapper or a pop vocalist, or a local producer, or studio owner — if you’re involved in […]
Posted inVisual Arts
Jersey City Artists Show at Manhattan’s Ivy Brown Gallery
Call it coincidence or call it causal. Either way, it can’t be denied that the neighborhoods of Manhattan that are most saturated with art, and art galleries, are the easiest ones to access from Jersey City. The PATH train stops in Chelsea twice. The first platform in Manhattan is right on Christopher Street. Depending on […]