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NBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Queer art faces widespread museum censorship, curators say
When artist Amy Sherald canceled her LGBTQ-inclusive Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery show 'American Sublime' last month, it was just the latest in a series of censorship episodes involving LGBTQ art at major American museums this year. In February, Washington, D.C.'s Art Museum of the Americas canceled 'Nature's Wild With Andil Gosine' just weeks before the exhibition's scheduled opening in March, without saying why. The group show was to have included works inspired by Gosine's 2021 book, 'Nature's Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean,' which reflects on art, activism and homosexuality in the region. The same month, Arizona's Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art made eleventh-hour edits to a traveling exhibition of women, queer and trans artists, which had previously been called 'transfeminisms,' altering the title of its condensed show to 'There are other skies.' Marinna Shareef with Andil Gosine's "God of Whimsy" In April, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art postponed a group exhibition of works by LGBTQ African artists titled 'Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,' which had been scheduled for a late May opening to coincide with WorldPride. The D.C. museum cited budgetary reasons for postponing the show to 2026, but the timing was hard to miss on the heels of Trump administration directives to the Smithsonian to remove 'improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology' from its museums — as well as the forced and pre-emptive relocation of other WorldPride cultural events after Trump administration firings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 'There's something about the combination of art and sexuality that still remains the third rail in the American museum world,' art historian Jonathan D. Katz told NBC News. Katz was the lead curator for 'The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939,' the vast and successful historical survey of LGBTQ art that ran through early July at Chicago's Wrightwood 659 Gallery. Katz traces the roots of modern queer art censorship to the controversial Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition 'The Perfect Moment,' which — with its provocative imagery, much of it homoerotic — became a cultural lightning rod at the height of the Reagan/Bush-era culture wars in 1989-90. 'You'd think that decades later, this would no longer be a live wire, but it still seems to be,' Katz said. Activists in downtown Cincinnati in 1990 as jury selection began in obscenity charges against the Contemporary Arts Center for exhibiting photographs by the late artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Al Behrmann / AP file Central to the cancellation of Sherald's show was her painting 'Trans Forming Liberty,' which features a Black trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty. After she learned that the National Portrait Gallery had 'internal concerns' about the painting and planned to replace or supplement it with a video to provide 'both sides' of its trans subject matter, Sherald balked and canceled her entire show, which would have been the museum's first solo exhibition by a Black contemporary artist. 'While no single person is to blame, it's clear that institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role,' Sherald, who rose to fame when she painted former first lady Michelle Obama's official portrait, said in a statement after the cancellation. 'At a time when transgender people are being legislated against, silenced, and endangered across our nation, silence is not an option.' After the cancellation, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution, which oversees the gallery, disputed Sherald's claims and said that the institution wanted more time to better contextualize the painting but that Sherald canceled before that could be done. Katz said Sherald's withdrawal of the exhibit 'is what this moment requires.' 'I bow to her,' he said. 'She's willing to do it, she's got the strength to do it, and I think it's extraordinary.' The National Portrait Gallery is one of eight Smithsonian museums targeted as part of the first phase of an expansive review announced by the Trump administration on Tuesday. The review will analyze all aspects of current and future museum exhibitions to ensure alignment with the president's March executive order calling for 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.' Gustave Caillebotte's "Boat Party" is now on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. Sophie Crépy / Musée d'Orsay In June, across town from 'The First Homosexuals,' the Art Institute of Chicago opened a traveling exhibition of 19th century French artist Gustave Caillebotte's male-focused and arguably homoerotic work, changing the show's name from 'Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men' to 'Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World.' Wall texts accompanying the artworks at the Art Institute take a more general approach than they had at the exhibition's previous incarnations at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Getty Center in Los Angeles, where frank discussions of gender and sexuality were included. 'That one was particularly galling, because not only did the show coincide with my show, but I wrote for the catalog of that exhibition precisely how one talks about same-sex desire in Caillebotte's work,' Katz said. Katz's associate curator for 'The First Homosexuals,' Johnny Willis, added, 'We're not asking them to say that Gustave Caillebotte was gay ... We're asking them to leave open the possibility, and to foreground the blurriness of these questions in the late 19th century.' In a statement to NBC News, the Art Institute of Chicago said its 'Painting His World' title is more illustrative of what people will see when they come to the exhibition, which 'reflects Caillebotte's full lived experience and daily life, including his personal relationships with the men in his life, like his brother, colleagues, and friends.' The institute added that it's 'common practice' for the same exhibition to have differing titles and wall labels when it's at different museums. The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art — which was not included in the Trump administration's Phase I review — said in a statement on Tuesday that the postponement of its LGBTQ exhibition was due to private funding challenges and that pushing it back to early 2026 'provide the museum additional time to increase fundraising for the exhibit.' The Art Museum of the Americas and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment regarding their canceled and altered exhibits. Alice Austen's 1891 photograph "The Darned Club" was on view earlier this year at "The First Homosexuals" exhibition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago. Willis said that a 'particular strain of '1 Percent' conservatism' is running some American museums today and that it is contributing to a rise in censorship. 'A lot of these museums are privately funded,' Willis said. 'So I think it's about trying to pacify a class of oligarchs that by and large run these museums, for whom questions of explicit uncensored sexuality are frankly anathema to their values.' Fortunately for Katz and Willis — and Chicago audiences — the innovative exhibition space Wrightwood 659, just seven years old and committed to presenting socially engaged art, stepped up to host 'The First Homosexuals' when virtually every other American museum turned it down. 'One museum director said to me, 'It's precisely the exhibition I'd like to show, and therefore the one that I can't,'' Katz said. After the show's success, Katz said, he was sure that several museums that had turned it down would ask to host it next. 'Never happened,' he said. 'Rave reviews, the last two months were sold out, waiting lists of 100-plus people — I mean, everything a museum could want, and yet no.' Instead, the exhibition will travel next to Switzerland's Kunstmuseum Basel, where it will open in the spring. Canadian artist Kent Monkman works on one of his large-scale history paintings, called "The Scream," in 2016. Randy Risling / Toronto Star via Getty Images file For now, queer art is still finding a home at some major American museums. 'Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors' runs through this weekend at the Denver Art Museum; New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is showcasing 'Casa Susanna' through Jan. 25; and in Los Angeles, the Getty Center has a double feature of queer shows, 'Queer Lens: A History of Photography' and $3 Bill: Evidence of Queer Lives, both on view through Sept. 28. 'These exhibitions do what we always hope an exhibition will do — bring visibility to lesser-known histories through the display of art to the public,' said Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Denver Art Museum's Native Arts curator, John P. Lukavic, said editing the exhibition was never a consideration for the museum, having worked with Monkman, a queer, Two-Spirit artist, for more than a dozen years. 'Presenting his work and the queer themes he explores are completely normal for us and our community,' Lukavic said. Willis said museum officials underestimate the public's appetite for queer-themed shows. 'I don't think a lot of these museum officials realize how much of a gold mine this is,' Willis said. 'There is enormous hunger for these histories, these stories, these narratives right now — not to mention that it can bolster a reputation. You can mark yourself as an institution that upholds bravery.'
CBC
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Sask. artist reconsiders U.S. travel after D.C. museum exhibition including his work cancelled abruptly
Social Sharing Zachari Logan often visits the U.S. for art exhibitions featuring his work, but the Regina artist is reconsidering travel plans after an American museum cancelled a show he was in — a decision he sees as linked to President Donald Trump's orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. A ceramic sculpture made by Logan was set to appear in an exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas (AMA) in Washington, D.C., but the AMA cancelled the show mere weeks before it was set to open. "I think it's because museum staff were rightly worried for their own jobs and for the institution losing its funding," Logan said on CBC's The 306 in an interview with host Peter Mills. "The rhetoric coming out of the White House is deplorable ... and I just don't feel personally safe being in the United States at this time. I do have projects that I have decided not to travel to the U.S. for." The multi-artist show "Nature's Wild" centred themes of queer sexuality and love woven through the personal history of Andil Gosine, a Canadian artist and York University professor who commissioned works from other artists for the show. It's the second exhibition the museum nixed in a month. Logan made a ceramic crown of flowers native to Trinidad and Tobago, where Gosine grew up. The exhibition is inspired by Gosine's book Nature′s Wild: Love, Sex, and Law in the Caribbean. Logan's work is held in public and private collections across across the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, and he frequently exhibits drawings, ceramics and installation pieces in solo and group shows, including Saskatoon's Remai Modern. He echoed the concerns of others about U.S. arts and culture institutions self-censoring to avoid the ire of Trump and his anti-DEI policies, similar to what's happening with scientists and academic researchers. "It appeared to be related to a Trump executive order and I think also something that was definitely preemptive," Logan said. "It was shocking." The AMA features modern and contemporary works from Latin American and Caribbean artists, and is run by the Organization of American States, which received $55 million from the U.S. last year. The AMA also cancelled a long-planned exhibition featuring art about the transatlantic slave trade and the African diaspora. In the works for years, the "Before the Americas" exhibition was nixed less than two months before the scheduled opening in March. Works from the Nature's Wild exhibition will eventually be shown at galleries and museums in Canada. Logan said he's reconsidering his U.S. travel plans for upcoming shows, including one in Texas. "It will definitely affect my relationship to the U.S. and hopefully it's not long term," he said. "It's definitely shifting the way that I'm thinking moving forward." Earlier this month, Ottawa updated its travel advisory for Canadians visiting the U.S., warning citizens to expect extra scrutiny from U.S. Border Patrol agents, including having cellphones seized and contents downloaded. Saskatchewan artist Zachari Logan investigates queer space on the prairies 9 years ago Duration 2:58 Saskatoon-based visual artist explores spaces in Saskatchewan that are rarely given a second thought - the ditches by the side of the road.
The Guardian
01-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘I was in shock': DC gallery pulls exhibits of Black and LGBTQ+ artists amid Trump DEI crackdown
A Washington DC art gallery has abruptly cancelled two exhibitions featuring Black and LGBTQ+ artists, prompting accusations that it has caved in to Donald Trump's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes. The Art Museum of the Americas, run by the Organization of American States (OAS), was due to present the shows Nature's Wild with Andil Gosine and Before the Americas in March. The decision to pull the exhibits coincided with an executive order issued by the Trump administration directing a review of relationships with international organisations that receive US funding. To Gosine, it is an alarming example of pre-emptive capitulation – obeying in advance. 'There's a long history of the arts being attacked by conservative forces,' the 51-year-old Canadian artist and curator told the Guardian. 'What I'm disappointed about with the OAS is that this is not Trump's action; this is anticipating. This for me is even scarier because it feels like we have this closeup view to how fascism unfolds.' The cancellation was a crushing blow for Gosine, a professor of environmental arts and justice at York University in Toronto, who put years of work into the exhibition. It was inspired by his 2021 book Nature's Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean, which explored ideas about ecology, sexuality and human rights. His preference for working with public institutional spaces led him to the OAS and its Art Museum of the Americas in Washington. 'For three years they have been consistently enthusiastic,' he said. 'Every time I proposed something they were quick to write letters of support for it. They seemed very happy up to the day before cancellation; I have all these enthusiastic emails. I don't think we had one bad word in that time.' Gosine added: 'I have not put more resources or time into any project. This was to be the feather in my cap because it was a very personal project. I grew up in Trinidad; the exhibition was around unpacking a life. The signature image for the exhibition was an image of me at three years [old].' The show was to include works by a dozen artists from across the Americas, many of them LGBTQ+ people of colour. It was to feature sculpture, photography, video, acrylic paintings, oil paintings and collage including a video installation by the Black artist Lorraine O'Grady, who died in December aged 90. Gosine used funds awarded to him to keep the budget as low as possible, for example creating work in the US so it would not have to be shipped from Canada. World Pride had selected it as one of their marquee arts events and organised dedicated programming. The opening date was brought forward to 21 March so that a Canadian mission could visit. But at 9am on 5 February Gosine received a phone call from the museum's director, Adriana Ospina. 'She said: 'I've been ordered to cancel the exhibition.' She didn't give a direct reason. I mean, I was in shock. Never in a million years. 'There are lots of challenges to this space; I was prepared to make up for all of them. But there would be no discussion. She alluded to budget restraints at their museum but that was perplexing because in fact they were contributing almost nothing to the show.' Ospina sent a follow-up letter but it still gave no reason for the termination, Gosine said. But to Gosine there is little mystery. On 4 February Trump issued an executive order directing his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to review relationships with international organisations receiving US funding. The US is the biggest contributor to the OAS secretariat's budget, giving $55m last year. 'It's not accidental that on February 4 they get a letter saying, 'Hey, we might pull out your budget' and on February 5, they're like, 'OK!'' he said. 'The quickness of the response suggests to me that this is what I think will be a losing attempt to appease the administration.' Gosine believes the OAS has surrendered its principles for nothing. 'How is an organisation like this one, that's been so associated with their human rights work more than anything else, going to fit in to a new political order? How smart is it to throw their allies, their communities under the bus for something that will not be successful? I can't imagine them keeping their budgets, given what kinds of cuts the US administration is making.' Having planned every inch of the space for three years, Gosine says the show cannot survive as he conceived it, although elements of it will live on in exhibitions and events in Montreal, Toronto and New York. A substantial catalogue was due to go to press last week but will not see the light of day. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Trump's dismantling of DEI initiatives across the federal government included the closure of diversity offices at the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institution as well as the cancellation of a US Marine Band collaboration with young musicians of colour. He has also taken control of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and installed an acolyte as interim president. There are fears that his ability to threaten funding will help create a new political climate that discourages cultural institutions from engaging with topics related to race, identity and social justice. Gosine added: 'The hardest part of that for me to understand is how people all the way along the line bend to the political tide. I reached out to a few people to get advice on this and I was surprised: there are powerful people who are big critics of Trump but who are unwilling to be uncomfortable. 'Well, how do I make sure my consultancy contract isn't at stake?' 'I feel people who have the most to risk are risking it. When I told the artists, they were ready to go to the streets. But it astonishes me how people in power are looking after what they mistakenly believe is a self-interest that will protect just them. It doesn't work like that. When human rights recede, everything comes tumbling down.' Another shuttered exhibition, Before the Americas, featured works by African American, Afro-Latino and Caribbean artists, tracing the influence of the transatlantic slave trade and African diaspora. Curator Cheryl Edwards also received a call from Ospina informing her that exhibition would no longer go ahead. Edwards said the only reason given for the cancellation was 'because it is DEI', telling the Washington Post: 'You can't tell me that the artists I've chosen for this exhibit are not top quality. The whole museum is DEI under that definition.' The Art Museum of the Americas says in its mission statement that it 'exhibits, collects, studies and conserves modern and contemporary art of the Americas, in order to promote cultural exchange to advance the OAS four pillars of democracy, human rights, multidimensional security and integral development'. A spokesperson for the museum did not respond to requests for comment.
Washington Post
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Art Museum of Americas cancels shows of Black, LGBTQ artists following Trump orders
The Art Museum of the Americas, a cultural venue run by the Organization of American States that is steps from the White House and the National Mall, has canceled two upcoming shows, one featuring Black artists from across the Western Hemisphere and the other showcasing queer artists from Canada. According to participants in those shows, museum officials canceled the exhibitions to comply with Trump administration orders to stamp out federal funding for 'diversity, equity and inclusion' efforts.
