"Good morning. Yes, 2025 may have been a year of aesthetic monstrosities, from Labubus to low-rise jeans, but it also ushered in the renaissance of a much more transgressive and inspiring visual current: anti-monarchical art. Writer Ed Simon sees its rise not only in the No Kings movement, with its distinctly post-crown lexicon, but in a burgeoning collective - and cross-partisan - aversion to the abuse of power. Point in case: Even Republicans were sickened by President Trump's cruel, horrific"
"Yesterday I stood in New York City's Federal Hall, where the Bill of Rights was first proposed 234 years ago, listening to a series of beautiful speeches and performances about the importance of artistic freedom. At first, the "First Amendment Day Rally" struck me as disconnected from reality. Then high schooler Madison Lindo broke into song, her vocals soaring into the air, and I remembered what we're fighting for. There's no room for cynicism in the resistance."
2025 saw a resurgence of anti-monarchical art, exemplified by the No Kings movement and a post-crown visual lexicon. A growing cross-partisan aversion to abuse of power emerged, intensified by outrage over President Trump's rant following the fatal stabbing of Rob and Michele Reiner. A First Amendment Day rally at Federal Hall featured speeches and performances emphasizing artistic freedom, highlighted by Madison Lindo's soaring song and a renewed sense of resistance without cynicism. Debate over public funding and City Hall demolition exposed shifts toward private control of cultural assets. Conversations about art-school debt and alternative MFA pathways continued.
Read at Hyperallergic
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