The Whitney Museum cancels exhibition after artists speak out about compensation

The museum was planning to stage an exhibition with artworks bought from charity fundraisers

The Whitney Museum in New York has been criticised for planning to exhibit works that were purchased through charity initiatives. Getty

The Whitney Museum of American Art is mired in yet another controversy, this time involving compensation for artists whose works were obtained at discount prices or for free and were lined up for an exhibition in September.

Curated by Farris Wahbeh, the museum's research head, the show, titled Collective Actions: Artist Interventions in a Time of Change, has been cancelled after artists took to social media to highlight what they called the museum's "predatory" acquisition process.

It turns out that several works included in Collective Actions were bought from the See in Black initiative, a fundraising campaign created by a collective of black photographers in June.

The initiative was developed after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee and Tony McDade, all of whom died at the hands of law enforcement in the US. Photographers sold their prints online to raise funds for civil rights and restorative justice groups.

What they did not know was that the Whitney Museum purchased these works at discounted prices and were planning to exhibit them. It was only on Tuesday, when Wahbeh emailed the artists informing them that their work has been acquired, that they found out.

In the email, Wahbeh said the museum would give the artists an Artist Lifetime Pass, which would allow them and a guest free entry into the Whitney for life.

The exhibition was also going to include prints that artists created in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and shared for free online on platforms such as Protest Pdfs.

Artist Gioncarlo posted a screenshot of the email on Twitter, stating that the museum “preyed on black artists in this moment in such a disgusting way. No scruples. An embarrassment”.

See In Black released a statement on social media, saying the Whitney's use of the prints "constitutes unauthorised use of the works to which the artists do not consent and for which the artists were not compensated".

The museum also planned to display posters included in the Poetry for Persistence fundraiser, where the works were sold for $40 (Dh147) and proceeds directed to a community bail fund in Baltimore.

The exhibition was cancelled after the criticism on social media and Wahbeh sent an apology email to the artists. He explained the works were part of the museum's special collections, which includes objects such as posters, prints, zines and books.

The museum, which is still recovering from recent controversies – including protests against its former board member Warren Kanders, a vice chairman of a weapons manufacturing company, who resigned in 2019 – has not yet announced its next plans for the works.