At the Whitney, a protest against Dana Schutz' painting of Emmett Till: "She has nothing to say to the Black community about Black trauma." pic.twitter.com/C6x1JcbwRa Scott W. H. Young (@hei_scott) March 17, 2017 Dana Schutz, the white artist behind a controversial painting of Emmett Till that appeared at this years Whitney Biennial, has issued a letter to the museum, asking that the institution take down her work.Though it was not at all my intention to cause harm, many artists have come forward to announce that my depiction of suffering is in turn causing them suffering, Schutz wrote. I cannot rightly protect a painting at the expense of human beings.Schutzs painting, Open Casket, depicts the abstracted face of 14-year-old Till, a black teenager who was lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of harassing a white woman. The work is based on images of Till at his open-casket funeral decades ago, which were later published in the black publication Jet magazine. In those photos ' and in Schutzs painting ' Tills face appears brutally mutilated, the horrific violence enacted upon him on open display.Open Caskethas been the subject of controversy since the Whitney Biennials opening on March 17, when a group of protesters appeared around the painting, obstructing it from public view. As seen in the photo above, one protester, artist Parker Bright, stood in front of the work wearing a shirt that readblack death spectacle. Conversations on social media have similarly referenced the painting as a vehicle for the exploitation of black suffering.In an open letter obtained by The Huffington Post before Schutz issued her own, artist and writer Hannah Black explained why she believes Schutzs painting is unacceptable ' and why it should be removed from the Whitney Museum of American Art.Although Schutzs intention may be to present white shame, this shame is not correctly represented as a painting of a dead Black boy by a white artist, Black wrote. She continued, Those non-Black artists who sincerely wish to highlight the shameful nature of white violence should first of all stop treating Black pain as raw material.Following the initial calls to remove the painting, Schutz originally explained in a statement, I dont know what it is like to be black in America, but I do know what it is like to be a mother. [...] It is easy for artists to self-censor. To convince yourself to not make something before you even try. There were many reasons why I could not, should not, make this painting(but) art can be a space for empathy, a vehicle for connection.The Whitney defended the work, as well. Biennial curatorsChristopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks sent a statement to artnet News, writing in part: For many African Americans in particular, this image has tremendous emotional resonance. By exhibiting the painting we wanted to acknowledge the importance of this extremely consequential and solemn image in American and African American history and the history of race relations in this country. As curators of this exhibition we believe in providing a museum platform for artists to explore these critical issues.Now, in an letter sent to The Huffington Post on Thursday morning, Schutz is asking that the Whitney comply with protesters and remove the painting from the Biennial.I understand that many have attempted to defend my work in the interest of free speech, and with calls against censorship, she wrote. However, the artists and writers generously critiquing Open Casket have made plain to me that I have benefited from the very systems of racism I aimed to critique, in a way that blinded me to what my re-presenting this image would mean to Black audiences.Schutz reiterates her decision to join critics in calling for the immediate removal of Open Casket, promising that the work will never be for sale or re-enter into the public sphere. I also plan to redirect all funds from the sales of my other paintings included in the Biennial towards the Black liberation movement, she added. Finally, out of continued respect for those harmed by the work, I ask that the catalog and the press in the future and retroactively remove all images of the work from circulation, and replace it with images of the works subsequent protest.HuffPost reached out to the Whitney Museum for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.Read the entirety of Schutzs letter concerning Open Casket below.Dear Mia and Christopher,I am writing to publicly request that my painting, Open Casket, be removed from this years Whitney Biennial. Though it was not at all my intention to cause harm, many artists have come forward to announce that my depiction of suffering is in turn causing them suffering. I cannot rightly protect a painting at the expense of human beings.I understand that many have attempted to defend my work in the interest of free speech, and with calls against censorship. However, the artists and writers generously critiquing Open Casket have made plain to me that I have benefited from the very systems of racism I aimed to critique, in a way that blinded me to what my re-presenting this image would mean to Black audiences. Particularly because, with my stamp of authorship, Open Casket could enter into the market and, in turn, commodify the very suffering I wished to explore. And while I agree with your curatorial statement that art can be an appropriate venue for political expression and debate, I do not agree with your implication that Black painwhat you refer to as tremendous emotional resonanceis a social good to be sought after through art. At least, not within a historically white-run institution, at the hands of a white artist, in an exhibit organized by a predominantly non-Black staff.Indeed, I wanted to critique anti-Black violence and explore the real empathy I found between myself and the mother of Emmett Till, but I have learned that my re-presentation of violence against her son has proven to demonstrate its opposite: appealing to the universal truth of motherhood goes against what I have learned about the denial of motherhood, and of humanity itself, on the basis of race. I recognize that the calls for the paintings removal have been made not as an imputation of my person or my career but of this artistic choice, this work, and the system that supports, even celebrates, such a gesture. Donna Haraway credits getting called to account by Black feminist thinkers for her most famous text (itself a call for sensitivity, a willingness to be wrong and a commitment to anti-racist coalition building). I want to model a willingness to learn from my mistakes, and honesty about accounting for them.People who have been harmed by and are at risk of continued harm by systems of racist violence are in a much better position to know what is needed for restitution for that violence. If the removal of my painting has been called for by Black artists, writers, and activists, I can no longer protect an object at their expense. The painting must go.I now join them in calling for the immediate removal of Open Casket. I have already promised the work will never be for sale, and I will also promise to make it impossible for the work to re-enter the public sphere. I also plan to redirect all funds from the sales of my other paintings included in the Biennial towards the Black liberation movement. Finally, out of continued respect for those harmed by the work, I ask that the catalog and the press in the future and retroactively remove all images of the work from circulation, and replace it with images of the works subsequent protest.Sincerely,Dana Schutzfunction onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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