Open Letter About a Closed Show
October 1, 2020 9:23 AM Subscribe
Four major museums - The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston - announced they are postponing their joint retrospective of the works of Philip Guston. At issue are Guston’s paintings that feature hooded Ku Klux Klan figures.
The artist's daughter and other curators and critics criticized the decision, and now more than 100 contemporary artists have released an open letter that criticizes the move. "The people who run our great institutions do not want trouble," the letter reads. "They lack faith in the intelligence of their audience."
Wouldn't want to risk offending any members of the KKK.
posted by blindkoala at 9:51 AM on October 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by blindkoala at 9:51 AM on October 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Guston's self awareness, as both a Jew, and as someone white passing, is deeply nessecary at this time. This is worse than the Mapplethorpe closure in 89.
posted by PinkMoose at 10:08 AM on October 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by PinkMoose at 10:08 AM on October 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
As a layperson looking at these images, I don't think it's unreasonable to postpone the exhibit in order to carefully reframe things. I'm not sure why that would require a four-year delay, though I imagine that might be the related to practicalities rather than curation?
An image can have the "capacity to prompt its viewers, and the artist too, to troubling reflection and self-examination." Images can also easily end up being de- or recontextualized, and I'm good on not having paintings of KKK members in the National Gallery at the present moment, especially in the context of an administration that is actively speaking to and encouraging violent white supremacists
I don't have great faith in white supremacists' capacity for reflection or self-examination. Given where we're at right now, I do have faith in their ability to take the appearance of these images in the National Gallery as a wink or a nod toward legitimization, even if the artist's intent or the text surrounding the paintings points in the opposite direction.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:10 AM on October 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
An image can have the "capacity to prompt its viewers, and the artist too, to troubling reflection and self-examination." Images can also easily end up being de- or recontextualized, and I'm good on not having paintings of KKK members in the National Gallery at the present moment, especially in the context of an administration that is actively speaking to and encouraging violent white supremacists
I don't have great faith in white supremacists' capacity for reflection or self-examination. Given where we're at right now, I do have faith in their ability to take the appearance of these images in the National Gallery as a wink or a nod toward legitimization, even if the artist's intent or the text surrounding the paintings points in the opposite direction.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:10 AM on October 1, 2020 [10 favorites]
evidenceofabsence, I would only say that the curators have likely been putting this show together for 4 to 10 years.
As the open letter says, if they feel the work needs more context, they failed to consider that context in their work on the exhibition to date - not that the framing that will properly account for it was not already available and necessary to build in from the beginning. I think that it speaks to a pretty serious failing of the curators' and institutions' understanding of the present moment, which began long before 2020.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 10:31 AM on October 1, 2020 [12 favorites]
As the open letter says, if they feel the work needs more context, they failed to consider that context in their work on the exhibition to date - not that the framing that will properly account for it was not already available and necessary to build in from the beginning. I think that it speaks to a pretty serious failing of the curators' and institutions' understanding of the present moment, which began long before 2020.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 10:31 AM on October 1, 2020 [12 favorites]
Washington Post art critic Sebastian Smee: "In postponing Guston exhibition, the National Gallery and three other museums have made a terrible mistake"
"...the other part of the rationale — that the art will be ready to be shown only when it can be “clearly interpreted” — is beyond bizarre. It is a statement that sounds as if it comes from the mouths of people who hate art — or else from some kind of malfunctioning algorithm — because it is utterly antithetical to what art is about.
Have Shakespeare’s meanings become clear yet? What about Rembrandt’s? Are we still waiting around for Toni Morrison’s rather wordy and overelaborate sentences to let themselves be “more clearly interpreted?” Oh, we are? Better cancel them, until they learn to cooperate."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:44 AM on October 1, 2020 [13 favorites]
"...the other part of the rationale — that the art will be ready to be shown only when it can be “clearly interpreted” — is beyond bizarre. It is a statement that sounds as if it comes from the mouths of people who hate art — or else from some kind of malfunctioning algorithm — because it is utterly antithetical to what art is about.
Have Shakespeare’s meanings become clear yet? What about Rembrandt’s? Are we still waiting around for Toni Morrison’s rather wordy and overelaborate sentences to let themselves be “more clearly interpreted?” Oh, we are? Better cancel them, until they learn to cooperate."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:44 AM on October 1, 2020 [13 favorites]
Taking the museums at face value, it seems very much like an institutional failure that the necessary framing wasn't already in place for this show -- after all, that is the job and function of museums and their curators.
posted by HiddenInput at 11:07 AM on October 1, 2020 [15 favorites]
posted by HiddenInput at 11:07 AM on October 1, 2020 [15 favorites]
I'm good on not having paintings of KKK members in the National Gallery at the present moment, especially in the context of an administration that is actively speaking to and encouraging violent white supremacists
The show had already been delayed until July 2021.
posted by oulipian at 11:38 AM on October 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
The show had already been delayed until July 2021.
posted by oulipian at 11:38 AM on October 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
Guston’s KKK figures are ugly. There is no way showing those pictures could be taken as a sign of support.
posted by homerica at 1:03 PM on October 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by homerica at 1:03 PM on October 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
On second thought, what the museum officials are afraid of is a viral tweet going, “The XYZ Gallery is showcasing the Klan...” Not even a question of people actually seeing the pictures. I am so glad I learned to read before the Internet.
posted by homerica at 1:24 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by homerica at 1:24 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
The idea that the museums need to cancel the show to provide 'clearer framing' is frankly depressing. Is that what we want museums to be? That any difficult piece of imagery should only be shown if the curators have put up a big blinking poster next to it that shouts "DON'T WORRY THE ARTIST AGREED WITH YOU AND WITH US THAT THE SUBJECT OF THIS PAINTING WAS ACTUALLY BAD"?
posted by kickingtheground at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
Here's the money quote from that letter, as far as I'm concerned:
they failed to consider that context in their work on the exhibition to date - not that the framing that will properly account for it was not already available and necessary to build in from the beginning. I think that it speaks to a pretty serious failing of the curators' and institutions' understanding of the present moment, which began long before 2020.
Exact-fucking-ly. Like, what, you guys were just gonna throw the KKK paintings up on the wall with no explanation of interpretation and context whatsoever? It didn't even occur to you until just now that ya might wanna address the use of those images? What the hell were you "curating" if that just supposedly slipped past your radar?
posted by soundguy99 at 3:51 PM on October 1, 2020
"And they realize that to remind museum-goers of white supremacy today is not only to speak to them about the past, or events somewhere else. It is also to raise uncomfortable questions about museums themselves—about their class and racial foundations.”It sure sounds like there's some chickening out because patrons and donors don't want to see "ugly" images that might tweak their consciences.
they failed to consider that context in their work on the exhibition to date - not that the framing that will properly account for it was not already available and necessary to build in from the beginning. I think that it speaks to a pretty serious failing of the curators' and institutions' understanding of the present moment, which began long before 2020.
Exact-fucking-ly. Like, what, you guys were just gonna throw the KKK paintings up on the wall with no explanation of interpretation and context whatsoever? It didn't even occur to you until just now that ya might wanna address the use of those images? What the hell were you "curating" if that just supposedly slipped past your radar?
posted by soundguy99 at 3:51 PM on October 1, 2020
I find it a bit ironic that just reading the metafilter post and having no other context on the artist otherwise, I was also led to believe that it was because the artist supported the KKK. A skim of the article and comments fixed that, but if I hadn't decided to click through, that's the impression I would've been left with.
posted by Aleyn at 5:56 PM on October 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Aleyn at 5:56 PM on October 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Guston’s KKK figures are ugly. There is no way showing those pictures could be taken as a sign of support.
As someone unfamiliar with the artist, my initial reaction to the images was that they seemed to depict the KKK as cutsey everymen. I read more, so now I understand better the artist's intent, but it certainly seems like he was playing with the irony of depicting murderous racists kind of like you might draw "cute" bedsheet halloween ghosts in a sunday paper. I think it's a stretch to believe the artist's intent would be immediately obvious to any layperson viewing them.
posted by Emily's Fist at 11:05 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
As someone unfamiliar with the artist, my initial reaction to the images was that they seemed to depict the KKK as cutsey everymen. I read more, so now I understand better the artist's intent, but it certainly seems like he was playing with the irony of depicting murderous racists kind of like you might draw "cute" bedsheet halloween ghosts in a sunday paper. I think it's a stretch to believe the artist's intent would be immediately obvious to any layperson viewing them.
posted by Emily's Fist at 11:05 PM on October 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
Emily's Fist:
I don't think that the work is ugly, and I think that you are correct that they are plain. I don't think they are the most significant of his political work (that would be the Nixon seires) and I don't think they are his best paintings as formal work (and he is a great formal painter). It's important to remember that Guston went through three major stages--a social realist phase, a phase of lyrical abstraction, and the last, singular, representational phase. This last phase--messy, ordinary, and plain, often muddy, or messy.
I think that he thought that the social realist paintings that he did of the Klan were too heroic, and too monstrous. I think that by making them as stumblebum's he argued for the kind of plainness of American racism. I think that there is a point to be made, that they weaken--that he over corrected, but I also think that it's a good instinct to take the power out of someone. In the best of the work, he is making an argument about how we are all engaged in this kind of racism, in the wort of the work, he is making a classist argument about these peckerwoods.
What frustrates me, is that this move towards the blockbuster, limits what is shown, and exhibitions is how we consider what this works mean. We need to start talking about this work, as a larger discussion of American racism, but we get these narratives about great artists, and not about what those artists actually do..
posted by PinkMoose at 4:00 AM on October 2, 2020 [6 favorites]
I don't think that the work is ugly, and I think that you are correct that they are plain. I don't think they are the most significant of his political work (that would be the Nixon seires) and I don't think they are his best paintings as formal work (and he is a great formal painter). It's important to remember that Guston went through three major stages--a social realist phase, a phase of lyrical abstraction, and the last, singular, representational phase. This last phase--messy, ordinary, and plain, often muddy, or messy.
I think that he thought that the social realist paintings that he did of the Klan were too heroic, and too monstrous. I think that by making them as stumblebum's he argued for the kind of plainness of American racism. I think that there is a point to be made, that they weaken--that he over corrected, but I also think that it's a good instinct to take the power out of someone. In the best of the work, he is making an argument about how we are all engaged in this kind of racism, in the wort of the work, he is making a classist argument about these peckerwoods.
What frustrates me, is that this move towards the blockbuster, limits what is shown, and exhibitions is how we consider what this works mean. We need to start talking about this work, as a larger discussion of American racism, but we get these narratives about great artists, and not about what those artists actually do..
posted by PinkMoose at 4:00 AM on October 2, 2020 [6 favorites]
I think Smee has a point about the Klan paintings and the cowardice of the institution that should have long ago figured out how to handle them on display, but he's obnoxiously thick-headed about the use of "tone-deaf," which he says can only be "mistakenly construed" by deaf people as ableist. Same when he asserts without question, "just as we can say, for instance, that an apology “fell on deaf ears” without causing offense," ignoring the many folks in the deaf community who've clearly asked that the phrase be retired.
It's hard to imagine a more direct example of ableist scorn, ignorance and privilege coming from a mainstream art critic. Not even the barest thought that maybe these phrases have been discussed ad infinitum among disability activists, and remain problematic for many, many people.
posted by mediareport at 9:05 AM on October 3, 2020
It's hard to imagine a more direct example of ableist scorn, ignorance and privilege coming from a mainstream art critic. Not even the barest thought that maybe these phrases have been discussed ad infinitum among disability activists, and remain problematic for many, many people.
posted by mediareport at 9:05 AM on October 3, 2020
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The open letter is great. I am amazed at the abject cowardice on display with this move. Plus Guston's work is just so good, it's a shame to lose a chance to put it in front of people.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:42 AM on October 1, 2020 [4 favorites]