Luis Muñoz Marin Boulevard is not considered a place where pedestrians go on purpose. Nevertheless, there’s a new Australian bakery just north of Morgan Street, and a café, open air seating, and a bandshell outside of the big tower on the northwest corner of the Bay Street intersection. Right in between the two, Art House Productions has […]
Visual Arts
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Art Fair 14C Moves to Liberty State Park, Absorbs JCAST
For its fifth year, Art Fair 14C has a new home. The rapidly expanding fair, which ran at the waterfront Hyatt in 2020, the Glass Gallery at Mana Contemporary in 2021, and the Jersey City Armory in 2022, moves to another picturesque setting in 2023: the CRRNJ Terminal in Liberty State Park. If you follow the […]
Posted inColumns
Six Rewarding Gallery Shows on View in Jersey City
If you attended JC Fridays, you know: we’re currently in a time of riches. There are rewarding shows on view all over town. It won’t always be this way. So in the interest of getting you out on the town while the offerings are hot, I’m breaking this down as simply as I can. Why are these […]
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 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
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 […]
Posted inVisual Arts
The Sacred Heart Beats Fiercely at the Curious Matter Holiday Show
True Christianity is not for the squeamish. Even the tamest versions of the faith ask believers to contend with a gruesome event: a human being nailed to a cross and left to suffocate in the sun. From the Pieta to the Passion to “The Last Temptation of Christ,” many famous works of art make Jesus’s suffering manifest […]
Posted inVisual Arts
The Jersey City Arts Awards Continue to Confuse and Confound
Onstage at White Eagle Hall, a woman read a poem beside a flock of white birds. The birds were statuettes: pigeon-sized trophies given to the winners of the 2022 Jersey City Arts Awards. The woman was Professor Ann Wallace of the English Department at NJCU, cancer survivor and long COVID sufferer, and the newest Jersey […]
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Jersey City Arts 2022 — What Happened?
On some mornings, we bound out of bed. On others — especially if we’ve been under the weather — it takes a while to get going. Perhaps we stretch, perhaps we blather. We may knock a glass off the end table. Though we’re technically up, we may feel we’re still in a dream. Such was […]
Posted inPerforming Arts
ArtPride New Jersey Issues Guide to Holiday Arts Events Statewide
ArtPride New Jersey, the state’s largest arts service organization, has released its guide to holiday arts events throughout the Garden State. Carefully curated, the guide includes shows offered by theaters, museums, performing arts spaces, and galleries. For New Year’s Eve, a comedy show is also on the docket. Listings are provided for children as well […]