Hide/Seek Timeline: Part 2

December 1, 2010

Gopnik, Blake. "Commentary: Museums shouldn't bow to censorship of any kind". Washington Post: December 1, 2010

Green, Tyler. "Only on MAN: Smithsonian Secretary pulled Wojnarowicz video". Modern Art Notes (blog). December 1, 2010, 3:29 PM

the decision to remove the David Wojnarowicz video A Fire in My Belly from the National Portrait Gallery’s “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” was made by Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough. Until contacted by MAN on Wednesday afternoon and as recently as Wednesday morning, the Smithsonian had maintained that the decision to pull the Wojnarowicz was made by NPG director Martin Sullivan and Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian undersecretary for art, history and culture. A source told MAN of Clough’s involvement and a Smithsonian spokesperson confirmed the account.

“In the end, a decision like that is the Secretary’s,” Smithsonian spokesperson Linda St. Thomas told me.

The Castle’s admission that Clough himself made the call to pull the Wojnarowicz is also the Smithsonian’s first admission the Secretary has been involved in the controversy surrounding “Hide/Seek.”

Itzkoff, Dave. "National Portrait Gallery Removes Video Criticized for Religious Imagery". New York TImes, December 1, 2010, 11:36 AM.

Katz, Jonathan David: On Hide/Seek

Statement from co-curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s Hide/Seek:Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. Posted Facebook December 1, 2010 at Facebook: Support Hide/Seek

Kingston, Jack (Congressman, Republican, Florida)."Congressman Jack Kingston on Fox and Friends about Natl Portrait Gallery's outrageous exhibit."

National Public Radio: Smithsonian Under Fire for Gay Portraiture Exhibit, December 1, 2010

New York Post: "Rethinking the anty-Christ", December 1, 2010

Trescott, Jacqueline, "Ant-covered Jesus video removed from Smithsonian after Catholic League complains", Washington Post, December 1, 2010; 12:00 AM.

Officials at the National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday removed a work of video art depicting Christ with ants crawling over him after complaints from a Catholic organization and members of Congress.

The four-minute video, created by the late artist David Wojnarowicz, had been on exhibit since Oct. 30 as part of a show on sexual difference in American portraiture.

The piece was called "hate speech" by Catholic League president William Donohue and a misuse of taxpayer money by a spokesman for Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the presumptive incoming House speaker.

Officials at the museum and the Smithsonian Institution, which includes the Portrait Gallery, said they had not intended to be offensive by showing the work and removed it to better focus on the exhibit's strengths.

"The decision wasn't caving in," said Martin E. Sullivan, the museum's director. "We don't want to shy away from anything that is controversial, but we want to focus on the museum's and this show's strengths."

An 11-second portion of the video shows a small crucifix covered with ants. The video is included in the exhibit, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture."

World AIDS Day, December 1, 2010.

See: WorldAidsDay.org

See: WorldAidsDayCampaign.org

See: Wikipedia: World AIDS Day

December 2, 2010

Atkins, Robert, to Queer Caucus for Art Discussion List.

Re the situation at the National Portrait Gallery, history suggests that letters of protest to the NPG director are good, but not enough. (Directors of the Smithsonian museums are even more insulated from public pressures by layers of bureaucracy than typical museum directors.) Likewise for discussions in February at CAA etc. Given the recent elections, it is a particularly appropriate time for direct action and drawing lines in the sand about what we queers will tolerate. Consider the below a few suggestions for how to do so. Because some of what I write below involves both the exhibition and our community, perhaps curator Katz might express and discuss his preferences regarding the organization of initiatives involving the show (see NPG below):

Consider initiatives involving the following:

MEDIA Editorials in newspapers and general media linking this censorious act with the additional outrage of it taking place on World AIDS Day/Day Without Art. Collective action by art media editors—eg linked editorials in their pubs and general media. SOCIAL MEDIA campaigns reaching hundreds or thousands--or millions--of respondent/protesters. Pressure on editorial boards (eg Village Voice) for investigative reporting. Personal contacts to presumably sympathetic writers such as Holland Cotter to enlist their voices. Contacts/Liasing with former censorship victims—eg NEA 4, Andres Serrano—whose editorial input or statements might carry additional weight with editors.

ORGANIZATIONS/INSTITUTIONS Where is the ACLU? National Coalition Against Censorship? Visual AIDS? CAA? PEN? Museum Associations? Every progressive gay and/or arts org?

NPG Given how much private gay money was involved in mounting this exhibition, mightn’t the donors be interested in expressing their opposition to such censorship? Mightn’t the living artists in the exhibition be similarly interested in expressing their views? Shouldn’t the institution be pressured to account for its actions? Hold a public meeting to discuss it? Are there sympathetic Congresspeople like Jerrold Nadler who might pressure the NPG about holding such a meeting?

PUBLIC MEETING in NYC Perhaps such a meeting needs to be prioritized asap to enable folks to step up to the plate and to receive support for doing so. Obviously, none of this will happen on its own. Nor should such organizational actions be considered part of the curator’s role.

Bell, Ford W., President, American Association of Museums. Email quoted by Trescott, December 2, below.

The American Association of Museums, based in Washington, said the Portrait Gallery did the right thing in deciding to pull the video in question. "We concur that it should not distract from the other thoughtful and provocative work in this important exhibition. However, we regret the controversy surrounding the excellent show," said Ford W. Bell, the group's president, in an e-mail.

National Coalition Against Censorship: National Portrait Gallery Betrays Constitutional Principles . . . December 2, 2010

Roake, Jessica.The Culture Wars: What Else Is In the National Portrait Gallery's "Offensive" Gay Show? Accessed December 3, 2010 from The Awl (blog).

Transformer Gallery: to Wayne Clough, December 2, 2010

Trescptt, Jacqueline, Washington Post: "debate over museum's censorship rages", December 2, 2010

Rainbow History Project. "Statement on Censorship at the Smithsonian."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 02, 2010

Since its founding in 2000, the Rainbow History Project has been committed to preserving the stories and memories—personal, geographical, and cultural—of the GLBT community in the greater Washington D.C. area and nationally. Those stories and memories are now under attack in the form of the Smithsonian Institution’s removal, at the behest of the Catholic League and other conservative groups, of David Wojnarowicz’s video A Fire in My Belly from the National Portrait Gallery exhibit Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.

That the art and activism of David Wojnarowicz, whose commitment to presenting the lived experience of those with HIV/AIDS inspired so many both before and after his death from AIDS in 1992, should be censored on World AIDS Day is doubly disturbing. The Rainbow History Project Board calls on the Smithsonian Institution to restore A Fire in My Belly to its place in the Hide/Seek exhibition and to issue an apology for its censorious actions to the Estate of David Wojnarowicz; to Jonathan D. Katz, David C. Ward, and Jenn Sichel, the curators of Hide/Seek; and to its patrons.

We must not allow artistic expression or GLBT lives and experiences to be censored in the face of political pressure.

Board of Directors: Philip Clark, Chair; Jeff Donohoe, Secretary; Jan Knode, Treasurer; Rebecca Dolinsky; Chuck Goldfarb; Patsy Lynch; Chris Man; Jim Marks; Kim Sescoe; Dan Vera

Accessed December 6, 2010 from: http://www.rainbowhistory.org/

Schlinkert, Sam. Art Censorship Controversies: A Brief History [NSFW Dec 2, 2010]

Washington Project for the Arts: Statement calling for the Smithsonian to reinstate A Fire in My Belly.

Washington Post. "Editorials. Undue political pressure on a portrait gallery".

December 3, 2010

Association of Art Museum Curators: Hide/Seek Controversy, December 3, 2010

P·P·O·W and Estate of David Wojnarowicz: Response to Smithsonian, December 3, 2010

December 5, 2010

Dan Cameron: "Why David Wojnarowicz Matters", December 5, 2005

Learsy, Raymond J. "Culture Wars Return to Washington and New York." Huffington Post. Posted: December 5, 2010 11:18 AM. Learsy is a scholar and author of "Over a Barrel: Breaking Oil's Grip on Our Future".

Logan, Brian. "Hide/Seek: Too shocking for America," Guardian (London).

These images, from America's first major exhibition of gay art, have outraged the country's right – leading to one of them being banned. Accessed December 6, 2010 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/dec/05/hide-seek-gay-art-smithsonian

National Portrait Gallery Protest Mike B. and Mike I.: SilenceStillEqsDeath.

Protesters display censored art ("A Fire in My Belly" by David Wojnarowicz) inside the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, days after pressure groups and members of Congress had it removed. Both protesters were detained and banned from all Smithsonian properties for life. More action is planned -- for updates see SilenceStillEqualsDeath.blogspot.com Category: News & Politics Tags: censorship, David Wojnarowicz, fire in my belly, video, gay, AIDS, ant, ants, crucifix, cross, Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery, Boehner, Catholic League, Donohue

New York City Meeting to Take Action Against Censorship

Sunday, December 5, 3-5 pm. PARTICIPANT INC. 253 East Houston St. FOR INFORMATION, to join the mailing list email hunterr5930@yahoo.com or phone: (212) 966-1091

December 6, 2010

Atkins, Robert, to Queer Caucus of American Art Discussion List: "Frohnmayer Fiddles, Artists Burn", November 28, 1989

Davis, Ben. "Arts Policy. Outraged Museums and Artists Unite in Protest of Smithsonian Censorship." ArtInfo.com. December 6, 2010.

Katz, Jonathan David: "a larger issue", email to group organizing in New York City against art censorship, December 6, 2010

Knight, Christopher. "Critic's Notebook: Smithsonian Institution fails to stand up to anti-gay bullies. Pressure groups succeed in getting a piece removed from a show about gay identity in art at the National Portrait Gallery." Los Angeles Times. December 6, 2010.

New York Times: "Editorial: Bullying and Censorship. New York Times. Published online: December 6, 2010. Published in print on December 7, 2010, on page A32 of the New York edition.

Excerpt:

In an appalling act of political cowardice, the Smithsonian Institution last week removed “A Fire in My Belly,” a four-minute video clip, from an exhibit called “Hide/Seek” at the National Portrait Gallery. The privately financed show explores identity, gender and homosexuality in American portraiture.

The video, by David Wojnarowicz, is a moving, anguished reflection on the artist’s impending death from AIDS. It shows very quick glimpses of challenging and, at times, disturbing images, including masks, a meatpacking plant, various objects on fire and the artist undressing himself.

. . .

The Catholic League is entitled to protest, as are members of Congress, although the bullying from Mr. Boehner’s office was chilling. Mr. Clough had a responsibility to defend this work and to reject censorship. He failed. On Monday, the Smithsonian announced that the exhibit will remain open, as planned, until Feb. 13, but without Mr. Wojnarowicz’s video. That is not remotely good enough.

Smithsonian News Release: Smithsonian Stands Firmly Behind "Hide/Seek" Exhibition

The exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” which opened Oct. 30, recently sparked a great deal of controversy.

One of the exhibition’s 105 works—a short segment in a four-minute video created as a complex metaphor for AIDS—was perceived by some to be anti-Christian. It generated a strong response from the public. We removed it from the exhibition Nov. 30 because the attention it was receiving distracted from the overall exhibition, which includes works by American artists John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Annie Leibovitz and Georgia O’Keeffe.

“Hide/Seek” is scheduled to continue as planned until Feb. 13.

The museum and the Smithsonian stand firmly behind the scholarly merit and historical and artistic importance of the exhibition.

Acknowledging that some visitors may prefer not to encounter some of the subject matter in the exhibit, the museum installed signs at both entrances, reading “This exhibition contains mature themes.”

December 7, 2010

Smithsonian Institution: Q and A Regarding the "Hide/Seek" Exhibition, December 7, 2010

December 8, 2010

ArtInfo: "Leaked Letter Shows Internal Tensions Over Smithsonian Censorship", December 8, 2010

The Courtauld Institute of Art, Research Forum. Mezzanine Floor, East Wing, Somerset House, WC2R 0RN. London, United Kingdom. Wednesday, December 8 · 12:00pm - 1:00pm.

Following pressure from the Catholic League president William Donahue, the Smithsonian Museum last week removed a 1987 film piece "A Fire in My Belly" by David Wojnarowicz from the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition entitled "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." The controversial material in focus is 11 seconds of footage from a 4 minute film featuring ants crawling over an effigy of Christ. With the threat of the withdrawal of 'public' funding from the museum, the Smithsonian's directors felt they had no option but to buckle to the hysteria of a minority of objectors. The works removal, on the eve of World AIDS day, is worryingly reminiscent of the 1989 moment when Senator Jesse Helms demonized Robert Mapplethorpe’s sexuality, and by extension, his art, pulling a cowering art world to its knees.

One of the great powers of art is its ability to foster both nuanced and heartfelt discussions about serious cultural issues. It is inherent to the nature of such discussions that they elicit strong, and often conflicting, feelings. It is crucial that museums and curators feel free to address such issues and to take intellectual, political, and aesthetic risks without fear of retribution (political, financial, or other). This event will attempt to explore these issues.

Two versions of "A Fire in My Belly" will be screened: the original 13-minute version edited by Wojnarowicz, and the 4-minute version shown at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, with an audio re-mix featuring Diamanda Galas and edited by curator Jonathan Katz. The screenings will be followed with conversation between a number of Courtauld staff.

Jonathan Katz will also make a statement via skype!

The event will be open to all with free admission

Taylor, Kate. "After Dispute Over Video, Curators to Discuss Smithsonian Show". New York Times, December 8, 2010, 1:49 PM

December 9, 2010

College Art Association Board-sponsored Centennial Panel, chaired by Dr. Jonathan David Katz, addressed the Portrait Gallery censorship matter on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., in the Rendezvous Trianon Room, Hilton New York Hotel

Good. Blu's MOCA Mural Erased; Who's to Blame?

Green, Tyler. "NPG commissioner resigns to protest removal."

National Portrait Gallery commissioner James T. Bartlett has resigned in protest of the Smithsonian’s removal of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly from the “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” exhibition. Bartlett is the former board president of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The commission functions as a kind of board of directors for the gallery.

Jacqueline Trescott, Washington Post: "Smithsonian deals with fallout", December 9, 2010

New York City Meeting to Take Action Against Censorship

Thursday, December 9, PPOW, 511 West 25th Street #301, New York, NY 10001, (212) 647-1044; 6:30 to 8:30pm

December 10, 2010

Carter, Holland. "Art Review. Sexuality in Modernism: The (Partial) History." New York TImes, online December 10, 2010. A version of this review appeared in print on December 11, 2010, on page C5 of the National edition.

Excerpts: Holland Carter, New York Times: "Sexuality in Modernism", December 10, 2010

Carter, Holland. New York Times: "Critic's Notebook. As Ants Crawl Over Crucifix", December 10, 2010

National Coalition Against Censorship: LA MOCA Whitewashes Political Mural. December 10, 2010

Los Angles Museum of Contemporary Art, newly headed by New York transplant Jeffrey Deitch, whitewashed a mural painted by internationally known street artist BLU. The mural, originally commissioned by MOCA for their upcoming Art in the Street exhibit, faces the Veterans Administration healthcare building on Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

Is it a publicity stunt and part of the art project? See Good December 9, 2010.

San Francisco Camerawork and the Queer Cultural Center: Emergency Screening of David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly. Friday, December 10, 2010 at 7:00 pm

The unedited video by artist David Wojnarowicz recently censored from the National Portrait Gallery's Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture exhibition after objections raised by members of Congress and the Catholic League without input or discussion with the curator or public. This Emergency Screening is part of a nationwide movement to screen the film and discuss it publicly.

The 13-minute video will be followed by a presentation by art historian, writer, and activist Robert Atkins who will provide historical context for such acts of government censorship and help lead a panel discussion that will include queer activists, scholars, and artists. Robert Atkins, Ian Carter, Kim Anno, and other distinguished panelists will elicit audience responses and potential plans for making sure such censoring of exhibitions and ideas do not go unchallenged. The evening will culminate with comments from Jonathan D. Katz, curator of Hide/Seek, who will join us from New York via Skype.

December 11, 20010

Rich, Frank. Gay Bashing at the Smithsonian. New York Times.

December 13, 2010

M.S., Economist: "Democracy in America", December 13, 2010

Warhol Foundation: "Demands Reinstatement of Censored Art", December 13, 2010

December 14, 2010

Pilkington, Ed (in New York). "Smithsonian facing US funding boycott after video on sexuality 'censored'. Warhol Foundation says unless withdrawn art work is put back on show it will cut funding for future Smithsonian exhibitions". Guardian.com (United Kingdom). Tuesday 14 December 2010 18.45

Excerpt: The Calamus Foundation, the other main backer of Hide/Seek, has written a withering letter to the Smithsonian saying that "our trust in the Smithsonian and the National Gallery to maintain the highest standards of independence, artistic integrity and free speech has been betrayed... Your action empowers the forces of discrimination, repression and homophobia the exhibition purports to challenge."

The board of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, which put $10,000 towards Hide/Seek, meets on Tuesday and will discuss a possible funding freeze.

Michael Stout, its president, said that he expected the board to endorse the decision of the Warhol Foundation and to follow its lead. "We think the gallery's decision was pretty short-sighted. It gives the impression that institutions will honour whatever religious pressure is brought to bear.

"Does that mean that conservative Islamists will have their way with public institutions, Jewish groups, the Christian right? This is a big mess."

December 15, 2010

Katz, Jonathan David. "Background To An Exhibition, Or Why Only Now Do We Get A Gay Show In A National Museum?" The Archive: The Journal of the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, No. 36, Fall 2010, pages 8-13.

Katz, Jonathan David, David C. Ward on "Hide/Seek: Seeking and Speaking Sexuality in the Museum." The curators of Hide/Seek speak about the exhibition and the response to it. Wednesday, December 15, New York Public Library, 7 pm, Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, South Court Auditorium. Information: http://lgbt.nypl.org/

New York Times: Letters. "A Provocative Artwork That Provoked". Published online: December 15, 2010. A version of this letter appeared in print on December 16, 2010, on page A38 of the New York edition.

Letters from: Lloyd Hamrol, Los Angeles, Dec. 11, 2010; Jane Alexander, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Dec. 14, 2010; William Donohue, President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, New York, Dec. 12, 2010; Bruce Ellerstein, New York, Dec. 12, 2010; Martin Sullivan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, Dec. 9, 2010; JonScott Williams, Richmond, Va., Dec. 7, 2010; David J. Edmondson, Alexandria, Va., Dec. 7, 2010.

Taylor, Kate, "Curators Criticize Controversial Art’s Removal". New York Times. Online: December 15, 2010. A version of this article appeared in print on December 16, 2010, on page A32 of the New York edition.

December 16, 2010

Bronson, A.A.: Facebook

Artist announces his request to the National Portrait Gallery to remove one of his artworks, a protest against censorship of the show by the Smithsonian's head.

Gopnik, Blake. "Artist asks to withdraw work from 'Hide/Seek' exhibit to protest video removal". Washington Post. Posted at 9:18 AM ET, 12/16/2010

Tyler. "Q&A with AA Bronson on ‘Hide/Seek,’ ‘Felix’". Modern Art Notes on ArtInfo.com, December 16, 2010, 12:52 PM

International Center for Photography. David Wojnarowicz, A Fire in My Belly 1986–87: Conversation by Panel and Video Screening

School at ICP, 1114 Avenue of the Americas, 7:00 pm RSVP required: ecardona@icp.org. The event is free.

Panelists include:

Nayland Blake (co-moderator), chair of the ICP/Bard Master’s program in Advanced Photographic Studies;

Joy Episalla, New York-based photography, video and sculpture artist;

Jonathan David Katz, co-curator of “Hide/Seek” and director of the doctoral program in visual studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo;

Kristen Lubben (co-moderator), associate curator at ICP;

Amy Scholder, editor of In the Shadow of the American Dream: The Diaries of David Wojnarowicz;

Marvin Taylor, director of the Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University.

Kennicott, Philip. "At N.Y. event, 'Hide/Seek' curators try to keep art on agenda, but can't avoid culture war". Washington Post. Thursday, December 16, 2010; 10:15 AM

Vartanian, Hrag. "AA Bronson Requests to Be Removed from Smithsonian’s Hide/Seek". December 16, 2010. Hyperallergic.com

December 19, 2010

New York City demonstration against censorship of Hide/Seek by the Smithsonian

Sunday, December 19. 1:00 PM

GATHER on the Metropolitan Museum steps

Fifth Ave. & 82nd Street

MARCH to the Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian FIFTH Ave. & 91st Street

Organized by Art Positive. Art+ is a New York City-based art action group - fighting censorship and homophobia

Website: http://www.artpositive.org/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ART-Positive/184468621566656

Email: info@artpositive.org

Demands: Stop the Censorship! Put the Wojnarowicz video back!

Text: Late in November the Smithsonian's head, G. Wayne Clough, did something unconscionable and shocking - he ordered the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC to 'remove' a video by David Wojnarowicz from a museum show called Hide/Seek. Demand that the video be reinstalled now.

A month into the show's run Clough capitulated to the complaints of right-wing politicians and an anti-gay religious group, and yanked the four-minute piece titled "A Fire in My Belly."

A New York Times editorial assailed the Smithsonian's "appalling act of political cowardice."

Is this any way to run a museum?

The Hide/Seek show is an important, groundbreaking exhibit about sexual identity and we urge you to see what's still on display.

When he died in 1992, Wojnarowicz, an artist and writer with AIDS, left a body of work about the disease that remains unrivaled for its power and beauty.

Demand the video be reinstalled now so the public can see the exhibition as the curators intended.

Stand up for free expression, for art that challenges and even pushes our buttons.

. . . take collective action for free expression.

Sources of Information

ArtPositive.org: New York City Group Organizing to Protest Censorship

Facebook: Support Hide/Seek

HideSeek.org

LGBT@NYPL.org

National Portrait Gallery. Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, October 30 through February 13, 2011

PPOP Gallery, New York City

Queer Caucus for Art: the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus for Art, Artists & Historians, An affiliated society of the College Art Association

SilenceStillEqualsDeath.blogspot.com

Additional Undated Sources

National Portrait Gallery's Official Statement

Keegan, Michael, President. People for the American Way. Smithsonian Gives to the Far Right Censors . . ."

Petition Against the Censorship of Hide/Seek Exhibition

Notes

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