He's An Art Critic Now

Trump's an art critic now. He hated Blue, the work by world-renowned sculptor Joel Shapiro. But Trump hated it with a passion!

NPR wrote,

A big blue presence has vanished from the landscape of Washington DC.

On Wednesday a crew removed a 24-foot-tall metal sculpture called Blue, by Joel Shapiro, from the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Our family turned out to say goodbye.

Blue is a giant stick figure with what seems to be four limbs, standing on what might be one leg, while the other is lifted. To walk, to leap, to dance? The upper-most limbs, which look like arms, are extended. To welcome, twirl, swing or sway?

The work was installed on that part of the Kennedy Center's grounds called The REACH, which opened in 2019. I've always thought it seemed an artful fit in that place, which before the Center became a source of controversy during the Trump presidency, abounded just about every night with music, dance, and all kinds of shows — available to the public for free.

[...]

But Josef Palermo, who was let go this past March as curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center, told the New York Times this week that Blue had been "targeted early on" for removal by the Trump administration, which might have seen something else in the sculpture. Well, isn't "seeing something else" art?

This reminds me of the communist countries of old... where only proletariat art was allowed. Maybe if it was red and not blue? The Atlantic magazine wrote,

Shapiro—one of the most important American sculptors of his generation—died last summer. He spent decades coaxing human gesture and emotion from the austere geometry of minimalism. His abstract shapes and forms have strong personalities. They lie in wait for their audience, then suddenly come alive.

But the Kommissar didn't like it.

Josef Palermo was the Kennedy Center's first-ever Curator of Visual Arts and was not replaced.

Mr. Palermo's background included:

A working artist and arts producer

Cofounder of VESTIBULE, an interdisciplinary artists' collective/collaborative

Service on the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities

The new Kennedy Center is being run by people whose professional backgrounds are not in the arts. Their qualifications are in politics, diplomacy, communications, facilities, construction, and operations. At the same time, Trump's allies have taken control of the board.

The contrast with the previous leadership is striking.

The old board was bipartisan, with substantial representation from the worlds of business, philanthropy, government, and the arts. The new board has a much stronger political connection to Trump.

Just look at some of the new board members:

Donald Trump — president of the United States and now board chair.

Susie Wiles — Trump's White House chief of staff.

Dan Scavino — Trump's deputy chief of staff.

Usha Vance — wife of Vice President JD Vance.

Allison Lutnick — wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

John Falconetti — businessman and Trump supporter.

Cheri Summerall — Trump appointee.

Trump filled the board with some real art aficionados!