The Writing on the Walls – Of Love & Riots @ 58 Coles – Jersey City, NJ

There's a lot one could say about the current show at 58 Coles (www.myspace.com/58coles – Of Love & Riots put on by the Trust Your Struggle Collective www.trustyourstruggle.com. There's the art – a blend of mural painting, relief, found object, and graffiti – installed with the haste of an illicit tag by the artists this past week and accented with candles and a live dj for the opening. Then there are the political and social messages – oppression and the struggle for social justice. And of course there are the artists themselves – Borish, Cece, Erin "Charm" Yoshioka, Miguel "Bounce" Perez, Robert Trujillo, Shaun Turner, Scott La Rockwell, DJ Jonny Paycheck, DJ King Tres – and their collective movement – Trust Your Struggle – based out of the San Fransisco Bay area and New York City.

It's safe to say we all know what love is – deep human empathy and connection. While a riot is usually understood to be a violent public disturbance, violent disorder or confusion, riot also refers to a brilliant display, as in "a riot of colors;" to grow wild in abundance; and, something very funny. The Trust Your Struggle collective puts together a floor to ceiling display of love and the struggle for dignity, reminding us of our shared human connections.

Entering the gallery you are pushed back by a phalanx of wooden soldiers, helmets, shields, and guns bulging out of the wall – a present day vision of Uccello's Battle of San Romano. The effect is to transform you from a mere spectator to an active participant in an ongoing human struggle. To remind you that both inside and outside the gallery walls you are always already under assault and part of a real and vital war for dignity and justice. Moving through the space, we come upon two altars commemorating both death and the anonymous masked revolutionaries among us who resist the ongoing assault on our dignity and that of our family and friends. We are asked both to recognize them and meditate upon what this means to us, as we bow are heads to watch the flickering candles on the floor. An oversize portrait of an adolescent gangster watches over the whole scene, proudly displaying his camaraderie while his eyes betray fear and a sense of resignation. While the mood of the front room communicates feelings of anger, frustration, indignation, and fear, the work in the back room back room bears witness to the personal sadness and pain. We see the victims and are asked to recognize of family and friends, to feel compassion and empathy, to connect with their humanity.

On Friday night of the opening, friends chatted with friends, strangers chatted with strangers. A vibe of love was in the air, coursing through our bodies with the beats of the music spun by the two djs. An impromptu dance circle formed with beautiful bodies moving and shaking and sweating together. And I hope everyone like me had a riot.
-Gordon Fraser
www.gordonfraserfinearts.com
www.myspace.com/gordon_fraser