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