Jay Critchley: "Democracy of the Land, The Cold Warmth"

Friday, February 6, 2026, from 4:00 – 5:00 pm, followed by Q/A with Director of Art Benton Jones

Join Provincetown-based interdisciplinary writer, artist and activist, Jay Critchley, for "Democracy of the Land: The Cold Warmth" a visual and performative presentation that explores the breakdown and remapping of our political and cultural boundaries, the military buildup, authoritarianism and free speech, and the purging of environmental regulations. How will "The Whiteness House’s" enchantment with dictators affect our international relations, our culture, and our economics? The lonely US Flag looms over the debacle.

What does it mean to be an American? A patriot? A world leader?

Jay Critchley’s visual, conceptual and performance work and environmental activism have traversed the globe, showing and/or performing in Argentina, Japan, England, Holland, Germany, Columbia and the United States. He was featured in the LOGO channel’s “Ptown Diaries”, and interviewed by BBC/UK. His solo exhibition at Freight + Volume Gallery in Chelsea, New York City received exciting reviews from the New York Times, The New Yorker and the Village Voice.

He has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (SMFA), and has had residencies at: Harvard University (where he lectured); AS220 in Providence, RI; Williams College in Williamstown, MA; Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT; Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center, NYC; Milepost 5 in Portland, OR; Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar, Andalucia, Spain; CAMAC, Marnay-sur-Seine, France; the Santa Fe Art Institute, NM; and Manship Artists Residency in Gloucester, MA. View Critchley's TEDx Talk: Portrait of the artist as a corporation.

His movie, Toilet Treatments, won an HBO Award, and his 2015 survey show at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum traveled to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He won a controversial Trademark from the US for his Old Glory Condom Corporation patriotic condoms. He has received awards from the Boston Society of Architects for his visionary, environmental proposal, Martucket Eyeland Resort & Theme Park, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in NYC for his Big Dig project, The Big Twig. He recently gave the keynote speech at the UK Conference on Menstruation and Sustainability in St. Andrews, Scotland, where he performed a ceremony on the North Sea as Miss Tampon Liberty.

Critchley was honored in 2012 by the Massachusetts State Legislature as an artist and founder and director of the Provincetown Community Compact, producer of the Swim for Life, which has raised over $7 million for AIDS, women’s health, and the community. The 38th Swim for Life was held on September 6, 2025. 

This event is presented in conjunction with:

VISUAL VOICE: Freedom to Create.

On view January 29 - April 26, 2026

Cancellation policy: CCMoA must be notified 1 week prior for a refund.