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Andrea Bowers’ “Open Secrets 1 & 2″ Art Exhibit

Andrea Bowers’ “Open Secrets 1 & 2″ Art Exhibit

Part of a series on #MeToo. [View Related Entries]

Updated Jun 13, 2019 at 12:11PM EDT by Don.

Added Jun 13, 2019 at 09:50AM EDT by Sophie.

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Overview

Andrea Bowers’ “Open Secrets 1 & 2″ Art Exhibit refers to an art show documenting the #MeToo movement. In mid-June 2019, the exhibit was widely criticized online after Bowers was accused of using victims' photographs without their consent.

Background

On June 8th, 2019, The Andrew Kreps Gallery[2] announced "Open Secrets 1 &2" on their Instagram an art show which would be on view from June 10th to the 16th (shown below, left). The description of the show is as follows:

Open Secret documents the important cultural shifts represented by the #MeToo and Time’s Up international movements against sexual harassment and assault, which spread virally following public revelations of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein in 2017. The work contains approximately 200 photographic prints, each of which lists the name and occupation of an accused person, as well as their response to the allegations, printed in the typeface in which they were originally published. This project serves as both a physical manifestation of patriarchy and a monument to the courage of survivors who are speaking out against sexual harassment and assault, thereby making public what many repeatedly said were "open secrets." The work was researched, designed, written and produced in collaboration with: Kate Alexandrite, Angel Alvarado, Ryan Beal, Carey Coleman, David Burch, Miriam Katz, Zut Lorz, Julie Sadowski, Ian Trout, Ingrid von Sydow #AndreaBowers

On June 11th, Helen Donahue[1] tweeted, "cool that my fucking photos and trauma are heading art basel thx for exploiting us for “art” ANDREA BOWERS @unavailabl DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING INSANE IT IS TO FIND OUT MY BEAT UP FACE AND BODY ARE ON DISPLAY AS ART RN FOR RICH PPL TO GAWK AT THRU A STRANGER’S INSTAGRAM STORY" (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 23,700 likes and 3,700 retweets in two days.


TRUST UOmen LRll helen @helen cool that my f------ photos and trauma are heading art basel thx for exploiting us for "art" ANDREA BOWERS @unavailabl DO YOU KNOW HOW F------ INSANE IT IS TO FIND OUT MY BEAT UP FACE AND BODY ARE ON DISPLAY AS ART RN FOR RICH PPL TO GAWK AT THRU A STRANGER'S INSTAGRAM STORY pect hav sux m eminam n masquerade as allies bu sadder this happens 2015 screamed @ my own relection an media hate women yet write wmet oes od OnDctober 6 201,3 women tweeted that they had been physically ahused and sexualy assalted riter and editor Michael Hafford Several weeks later a fourth woman disclosed her Hafford had written for pblications including Rolling Stone and Time Out New York, and edited for Playboy, In 2015 da satirical colu for Broadly by freela or MeToo Movement Wi cdline Art Basel p.mited This Year With that Hafferdh n rea Bowors's Epic ount of America's assment Reckoning Vice's nline ile"Male Faminist Here,"in which he pasitioned la's accout of Uhe fra: 100 me ad in he eTea movenent wll drw crowds to Art al's ted section 10:54 AM 11 Jun 2019

Notable Developments

On June 11th, 2019, Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine Jerry Saltz[3] tweeted, "To Andrea Bowers, Kreps Gallery, Gianni Jetzer: It is a must – imperative – that all the abused pictured in this work gave their expressed permission to use their image first – to the artist, the gallery & the curator. Otherwise this work needs to be removed at once & NFS" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 300 likes in two days. That same day Helen[4] shared a screenshot of the Andrew Kreps gallery's initial response and said, "this gallery is straight up lying to people in real time about using my image in their exploitative bullshit" (shown below, right). The tweet accumulated over 170 retweets and 1,500 likes in two days.


Jerry Saltz @jerrysaltz To Andrea Bowers, Kreps Gallery, Gianni Jetzer: It is a *must* - imperative - that all the abused pictured in this work gave their *expressed permission* to use their image first to the artist, the gallery & the curator. Otherwise this work needs to be removed at once & NFS. helen @helen cool that my f------ photos and trauma are heading art basel thx for exploiting us for "art ANDREA BOWERS @unavailabl DO YOU KNOW HOW F------ INSANE IT IS TO FIND OUT MY BEAT UP FACE AND BODY ARE ON... Show this thread 7:09 PM 11 Jun 2019 andrewkrepsgallery @ images in the work solely depict the accused, not the survivors. Each individual print is based on publicly reported claims and the public response (printed in the font of the original source) of the accused. Sources are also cited on each individual print. the Reply 12m

On June 12th, @artnet[5] announced, "After an outcry, Andrea Bowers removes an abuse victim's photos from a monumental work about the #MeToo movement" (shown below). ArtNet[6] received statements from Andrea Bowers saying, "“I, Andrea Bowers, would like to apologize to the survivor whose image was included in my piece. I should have asked for her consent. [Donahue] has asked that the panel including her photo be removed and I have honored the request. I have reached out privately and am very much looking forward to listening" and the four associated galleries saying, “would also like to issue an apology to the survivor pictured in the piece. The galleries stand by Andrea Bowers and her work and support the conversation that has only just begun.”


artnet @artnet After an outcry, Andrea Bowers removes an abuse victim's photos from a monumental work about the #MeToo movement. bit.ly/2WCO9Y1 Garrisos Keil edee t Hary Kaawles mict Hndler aka Lemeny Saicke Aler Kecind Roy Price a imti t hid wc AA m auetemmail 8:24 AM 12 Jun 2019

Various Examples


andi zeisler @andizeisler Andrea Bowers is an artist whose work has always emphasized activism and "social practice," but this is a big f------ yikes. Did she reach out to any of the people whose photos/screengrabs were used in the installation? helen @helen cool that my f------ photos and trauma are heading art basel thx for exploiting us for "art ANDREA BOWERS e @unavailabl DO YOU KNOW HOW F------ INSANE IT IS TO FIND OUT MY BEAT UP FACE AND BODY ARE ON... Show this thread 1:19 PM 11 Jun 2019 Gina @ginadivittorio Replying to @helen @unavailabl I feel like this is absolutely not art @ArtDecider Also @unavailabl and @GianniJetzer absolutely f--- you you selfish capitalist pathetic excuses for artists @ArtBasel This needs to be taken down immediately and the victims compensated from the "artists" paycheck 8:42 PM - 11 Jun 2019 DARCIE WILDER ok 333333333433333 Replying to @helen @unavailabl YIKES....ugh helen im so sorry WHO PROFTS? 1:03 PM -11 Jun 2019 Downtown Abby @AbbyMCarney TFW you find out someone turned your r--- into "artwork" at Art Basel 10:23 AM -11 Jun 2019 umru @umru art basel be like hmm how can we promote the metoo movement oh i know let's display women's faces from online without their consent ?????? 11:20 AM - 11 Jun 2019 DEAN Dean Kissick @deankissick Andrea Bowers selling found images of abuse victims at Art Basel Untitled for $300,000 brings to mind Dana Schutz scandal: successful artist, trying to be moral and good, totally f---- it up because they're living in a bubble, completely out of touch, and really greedy. 6:30 PM - 11 Jun 2019

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – Helen

[2] Instagram – andrewkrepsgallery

[3] Twitter – Jerry Saltz

[4] Twitter – Helen

[5] Twitter – ArtNet

[6] ArtNet – MeToo Victim

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