MoMA's Cruel Offer to Workers

September 30, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. ⛅ Today is packed with urgent and interesting stories. First off, we reveal that the Museum of Modern Art in New York faced some of its unionized workers with a rather brutal choice early in the COVID-19 pandemic: forgo your promised salary raises or risk losing your job. I spoke with several MoMA art handlers and preparators who are unionized with Local 30 to bring you this report. I thank them for trusting me with their stories.

Also today, our Editor-in-Chief Hrag Vartanian wondered what would happen if he fed the AI image generator DALL-E with press releases of exhibitions at five blue-chip New York galleries. The results will surprise you.

There's a lot more, including reviews of Nick Cave and Kapwani Kiwanga, and don't forget to check out our guide for good shows to see around New York in October.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

We Asked AI to Re-Imagine 5 Blue-Chip Art Exhibitions

I inserted the text from five press releases into DALL-E and this is what it churned out. | Hrag Vartanian

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WHAT'S HAPPENING

Member of the Local 30 union at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (courtesy Rachel Abrams)

Union members say MoMA offered workers the option to forgo pay raises in exchange for keeping their jobs during the pandemic.

Brooklyn Museum workers call for salary increases and pledge to hold the museum accountable to “its lip-service to social justice.”

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GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design Welcomes New Faculty

This academic year, the George Washington University's Corcoran School welcomes new faculty members in art history, interior architecture, graphic design, dance, and theatre. Aruna D’Souza, an award-winning writer, is also the 2022-23 William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement. Read more.

LATEST REVIEWS

The Joyous Kitsch and Lingering Simmer of Nick Cave's Art

With explosions of color and materiality, Cave has his own enigmatic ways to funnel the funk through histories of adversity. | Debra Brehmer

Kapwani Kiwanga Uses Daylight to Expose Racial Surveillance

Kapwani Kiwanga invites viewers to look with only the quiet glow of natural light seeping in through the skylights, illuminating a nuanced way of seeing race. | Zoë Hopkins

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NOMA Presents Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers

With over 250 photos from the 19th century to today, this exhibition in New Orleans looks at the artistic, social, and political impact of Black photographers working in commercial portrait studios. Learn more.

AMPLIFYING VOICES

The Artists Amplifying the Voices of Iran’s Protesters

As protests rage across the country following the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, Iranian and Kurdish artists are creating work in support of freedom. | Isa Segalovich

The Dazzling Local Arts Scene of Southeast Los Angeles

In the shadow of a planned $150 million cultural center designed by Frank Gehry, a number of grassroots arts organizations are thriving in the predominantly Latino region. | Matt Stromberg

MORE FROM HYPERALLERGIC

Your Concise New York Art Guide for October 2022

Your list of must-see, fun, insightful, and very New York art events this month, including Xaviera Simmons, Cristina Iglesias, Mire Lee, and more. | Billy Anania

Required Reading

This week, Godard's anti-imperialism, in defense of "bad" curating, an inexplicable statue, criminalizing culture wars, and more. | Hrag Vartanian

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TRANSITIONS

Sara Anstis is now represented by Kasmin Gallery.

Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli were announced as the co-curators of the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

Eva LeWitt is now represented by Luhring Augustine Gallery
The Milwaukee Art Museum appointed Elizabeth Siegel as chief curator and André Allaire as chief development officer.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

LaToya Ruby Frazier won the Carnegie Prize for her participation in this year’s Carnegie International. Malcolm Peacock and Hyphen each received the Fine Prize.

Senga Nengudi received the 2023 Nasher Prize.

IN OUR STORE

Blue & White Peruvian Wave Napkin Set

This timeless textile set reinterprets a remarkable Peruvian panel fragment in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, made of cotton and camelid hair between the 10th and 15th centuries.

Browse more tableware inspired by works of art!

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