Don Perlis presents 'Trumpworld' exhibition at National Academy Museum through June 14

Don Perlis's exhibition 'Trumpworld' runs from April 20 to June 14 at the National Academy Museum in New York. The show presents a distinctive approach to political commentary through paintings that depict Trump's America with nostalgic serenity rather than overt satire. Perlis renders dystopian scenes of Times Square bacchanals with a touch reminiscent of Reginald Marsh and George Bellows. His work features Trump's visage integrated into corporate and human diversions, creating what some might find more sinister than traditional political art. The exhibition includes both large-scale painting machines and smaller vignettes that amplify isolated incidents within broader scenes. One such vignette shows a skirmish between competing wonder women with the president observing. Perlis employs humor and humanity as survival mechanisms while maintaining a message of sustained anger. The artist joins other contemporary political commentators like Judith Bernstein, Peter Saul, and Mira Schor, though his approach differs from the more direct iconography of artists like Goya or Daumier. His work has been acknowledged by artcritical/The Review Panel as part of the burgeoning artistic response to current political realities.