With the title “HOUSE OF LIES,” Johan Wahlstrom’s upcoming exhibition at the Van Der Plas Gallery on the Lower East Side isn’t exactly subtle political commentary. The painting at left (click to enlarge) will be one of several featuring our favorite orange comb-over in the artist’s signature earthy palette. But it’s not just about hating on Trump, says the gallery’s executive assistant Arbi Gjondedaj. “It’s about the social upheaval we see all around us.”
“I see myself as a storyteller and I want my voice to be heard in the daily debate,” Wahlstrom has commented on his series. The Swedish-born artist, based in Malaga, Spain and currently doing an artist-in-residency in Jersey City, adds that he wants to see a world with “less lies, less greed, less war, less poverty, less religion, less violence, less people in jail, less child abuse, less problems with the environment and so on…” If all that sounds good to you, the show opens November 20, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will be up until December 20 at 156 Orchard Street.
Within the gallery walls or beyond, we’ve seen a lot of Trump bashing — sometimes figurative, sometimes literal. And it’s been that way for a while. In July, Guatamalan mezcal brand, Ilegal Mezcal, began plastering these posters all over the city, proclaiming that “Donald eres un pendejo” (“Donald, you’re a jackass.”)
Picture: P.J. Podesta
And it’s not just posters. We spotted this on the sidewalk, on St. Marks Place.
Picture: Daniel Maurer
Now Sexy Donald Trump is poised, along with Pizza Rat, to become a favorite among this year’s Halloween costumes. Along with his waning media fever, it’s fair to say that he’s finally become more of a joke than anything else.
And the two people who really had some fun with this joke? James Adomian and Anthony Atamanuik. Last week at UCB’s Whiplash, the two comics imagined a debate between Trump and Bernie Sanders. Have a watch.