Paterson, New Jersey, marked Palestine Day by unveiling Gaza Square on Main Street with a sculpture by artist and activist Kyle Goen. The three-dimensional “Gaza Love” design (2014-) is installed outside the South Paterson Library Community Center to commemorate the city’s large diasporic Palestinian community amid profound loss. Goen frames the work as love that functions as solidarity and resistance rather than passivity. The design draws on the typography of Robert Indiana’s LOVE series and has been used for organizing spaces for more than a decade, originating during protests against the 2014 Gaza War. Prints circulated during the 2021 Strike MoMA movement, and Goen provides both physical prints and the design file so others can produce their own batches. The work emphasizes community action over museum-focused art careers.
"“I call the work 'Gaza Love' to communicate that love is solidarity - that it's resistance,” Goen told Hyperallergic in a phone call. “Love isn't passive. What pushes us forward is love for ourselves and humanity, and wanting to see people live.”"
"Goen's popular “Gaza Love” (2014-) design, realized in three dimensions, sits outside of Paterson's Southside library branch to commemorate the city's large diasporic Palestinian community at a time of profound loss. The city of Paterson, New Jersey, celebrated Palestine Day last Sunday, May 17, byunveiling its new Gaza Square on Main Street with a sculpture by artist and activist Kyle Goen."
"Invoking the typography of Robert Indiana's ubiquitous LOVE (1964-) series, Goen's design has worked as a tool in organizing spaces for over a decade, originally emerging during protests against the 2014 Gaza War. Prints of “Gaza Love” were also prevalent throughout the 2021 Strike MoMA movement, during which several grassroots activist organizations targeted the Museum of Modern Art's trustees whose finances were tied to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, among other examples of exploitation in the realm of “toxic philanthropy.”"
"Goen distributes the prints on the ground during actions and interventions, but has also provided organizers and other community members with the design file to print their own batches, adding that “this is bigger than me.” “Art is so compromised with capitalism,” the artist told Hyperallergic. “It's important that artists are doing this work, because I think we've actually lost our way in devoting our practices to museum shows, gallery representation, and art fairs.”"
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