G-d Bless Jewish

Juxtapose Magazine recently posted this photo of the word “Jewish” grafittied with the stars and stripes of the American flag.

While photographed in front of his work, the artist is proudly displaying an American flag on his t-shirt, a sign of the relationship between the symbol and himself. On the freight, his national pride and cultural pride are displayed as a singular entity by the combination of text and symbolism. This unification and self identification of identity a sign of contemporary Jewish art.

The caption, “you must be patriotic everyday and get over all your ‘1st world problems’ is a reflection of the problems with American society, and using that line in conjunction with Jewish identity alludes to the influence of materialism on American Jewish culture.

Comments on Juxtapoz included fits of laughter with some sly notions including, “come on they own america dont they hahaha.”

So what does this say about the way American Judaism is viewed in this country and how artists communicate that? Comments welcome.

See more on their blog here.