Last week, Knight Landesman, publisher of Artforum, became the latest in a long list of powerful men to be accused of using his position to take advantage of women. Landesman resigned from his post but, much the same as the Harvey Weinstein scandal, it's become an opportunity for women throughout the art world to stand up and say enough is enough to what they allege is a pattern of behavior and abuse. 

Over the weekend, an open letter circulated among women in art circles, part of a campaign called Not Surprised, borrowed from a Jenny Holzer piece that reads, “Abuse of power comes as no surprise.”

The letter says, “We are not surprised when curators offer exhibitions or support in exchange for sexual favors. We are not surprised when gallerists romanticize, minimize and hide sexually abusive behavior by artists they represent. We are not surprised when a meeting with a collector or a potential patron becomes a sexual proposition. We are not surprised when we are retaliated against for not complying. … Abuse of power comes as no surprise.”

The letter goes on to become a call to action: “We, the undersigned — those who have experienced abuse and those standing in solidarity with them — call upon art institutions, boards and peers to consider their role in the perpetuation of different levels of sexual inequity and abuse, and how they plan to handle these issues in the future.”

As of noon today, the letter had more than 3,000 female, trans and gender nonconforming signatories, nearly 300 of whom identified Los Angeles as their home base. They include local artists Andrea Bowers, Catherine Opie, Jibz Cameron and Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle (who was named Best Up-and-Coming Artist in our 2017 Best of L.A. issue); curators Helen Molesworth of MOCA, Christine Y. Kim of LACMA and Jamillah James of ICA LA; gallerists Ariel Pittman of Susanne Vielmetter Projects and Hannah Hoffman of the eponymous gallery; as well as writers and art professors.

A full list of the signatories is here and you can read the letter in its entirety below …

We are not surprised.

We are artists, arts administrators, assistants, curators, directors, editors, educators, gallerists, interns, scholars, students, writers and more — workers of the art world — and we have been groped, undermined, harassed, infantilized, scorned, threatened and intimidated by those in positions of power who control access to resources and opportunities. We have held our tongues, threatened by power wielded over us and promises of institutional access and career advancement.

We are not surprised when curators offer exhibitions or support in exchange for sexual favors. We are not surprised when gallerists romanticize, minimize and hide sexually abusive behavior by artists they represent. We are not surprised when a meeting with a collector or a potential patron becomes a sexual proposition. We are not surprised when we are retaliated against for not complying. We are not surprised when Knight Landesman gropes us in the art fair booth while promising he’ll help us with our career. Abuse of power comes as no surprise.

This open letter stems from a group discussion about sexual harassment within our field, following the recent revelation of Knight Landesman’s sexual misconduct. The conversation has branched out further and internationally. Harder work to advance equity is often expected of and performed by women of color, trans and gender-nonconforming people. Our efficacy relies on taking this intersection very seriously and not excluding other corroborating factors that contribute to bias, exclusion and abuse. These additional factors include, but are not limited to, gender identity, ability, religion, class and immigration status. There is an urgent need to share our accounts of widespread sexism, unequal and inappropriate treatment, harassment and sexual misconduct, which we experience regularly, broadly and acutely.

Many institutions and individuals with power in the art world espouse the rhetoric of feminism and equity in theory, often financially benefiting from these flimsy claims of progressive politics, while preserving oppressive and harmful sexist norms in practice. Those in power ignore, excuse or commit everyday instances of harassment and degradation, creating an environment of acceptance of and complicity in many more serious, illegal abuses of power.

The resignation of one publisher from one high-profile magazine does not solve the larger, more insidious problem: an art world that upholds inherited power structures at the cost of ethical behavior. Similar abuses occur frequently and on a large scale within this industry. We have been silenced, ostracized, pathologized, dismissed as “overreacting” and threatened when we have tried to expose sexually and emotionally abusive behavior.

We will be silenced no longer.

We will denounce those who would continue to exploit, silence and dismiss us. Your actions will no longer be a secret, whispered amongst us for fear of ostracization, professional shunning and recrimination. Where we see the abuse of power, we resolve to speak out, to demand that institutions and individuals address our concerns seriously, and to bring these incidents to light regardless of the perpetrator’s gender.

We will no longer ignore the condescending remarks, the wayward hands on our bodies, the threats and intimidations thinly veiled as flirtation, or the silence from ambitious colleagues. We will not tolerate being shamed or disbelieved, and we will not tolerate the recrimination that comes with speaking out. We will not join “task forces” to solve a problem that is perpetrated upon us. We provide a definition of sexual harassment, for those who may feel powerless, so that they may point to a document that supports a safe work environment for all.

We, the undersigned — those who have experienced abuse and those standing in solidarity with them — call upon art institutions, boards and peers to consider their role in the perpetuation of different levels of sexual inequity and abuse, and how they plan to handle these issues in the future.

We are too many, now, to be silenced or ignored.
With all we have experienced and witnessed, this letter should come as no surprise.

This letter is dedicated to the memory of feminist art historian Linda Nochlin (1931-2017), whose activism, spirit and pioneering writings have been an inspiration for our work.

#NOTSURPRISED
Instagram: @notsurprised2017
Twitter: @Not_Surprised1
Facebook: notsurprised2017

This letter is the first public step. We will continue to address and act upon these issues as part of a larger process, building the next steps through the feedback we receive. Minor editorial changes were made until 11 p.m., 29 October, 2017 EST.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.