The Crisis of the Whitney // Nine Weeks of Art and Action

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Whitney Museum Announces 2019 Biennial Participants, But One Artist Withdraws

We respect and appreciate the artists and curators of the biennial, along with the staff who have spoken out against Kanders. We also appreciate Michael Rakowitz’s decision to boycott the Biennial. We stand in solidarity with all artists who make a similar decision in the coming months.

We are organizing and in conversation with biennial artists on how we can pressure the museum to do the right thing, which begins with the removal of Warren Kanders. It is important to note that Warren Kanders is just the start of the crisis at the Whitney. There is no safe space for profiteers of state violence.

As we move forward separately and together, we seek to supplement the work in the biennial, which exhibits the work of Indigenous, Black, and Brown artists also thinking through these issues. When we take creative actions in the coming months, and apply a diversity of tactics and strategies, it will be an extension of the issues raised in this biennial beyond representation to examine the funding and structural complicity of the museum in state violence against communities of color. We will do so with respect for the participants of the biennial, the curators, and the staff of the museum.

Decolonize This Place