By Tracy E. Smith
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Tori Dillman was in high school when she found herself in an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship. The trauma consumed every part of her life, leaving her with panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and a feeling of hopelessness.
“I felt completely alone,” Dillman said. “I could barely handle doing daily tasks like getting out of bed and brushing my teeth. There were times I had to physically tell myself to breathe.”
That was three years ago. Now she’s thriving as a studio art major in her first year at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.
Making art is a way she can communicate her experiences, share her hope and even bring about change. Although creating art has aided in her own healing process, when she first heard about the #MeToo movement, it triggered difficult memories.
“The #MeToo movement breaks my heart,” Dillman said. “We shouldn’t have to have a hashtag to prove that sexual assault is real and I think our leaders — politicians, legislators, school boards — need to buck up and do something to help prevent these things.”
Sexual harassment allegations pose problems
Directors at art galleries and museums are challenged with how to handle exhibitions created by artists accused of sexual harassment in light of the #MeToo movement.
“We don’t need to promote another old white guy’s work if he has sexually harassed women,” said Nick Peeler, Co-Director of Open Space, an artist-run gallery in downtown Baltimore. “If we were to hear something problematic about any of our artists, we would definitely not show their work in our gallery.”
Open Space has a mission to promote the art community and connect contemporary artists with one another throughout the city by way of curated exhibitions, festivals, lectures, film screenings and music shows.
Peeler said that the recent controversy regarding acclaimed artist Chuck Close, who is best known for his portrait of President Bill Clinton, trickles down to smaller venues like Open Space. After multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington D.C. decided to cancel Close’s exhibition that was scheduled for May 2018, according to the New York Times.
With 81 percent of women reporting they have experienced some form of sexual harassment and/or assault, it stands to reason that this poses a problem in the art world too.
Learning how to navigate these issues in light of the #MeToo movement is difficult, and not everyone agrees that the solution is to remove an artist’s work.
Andre Hines Jr., Creative Director at S.A.N.D. Gallery in West Baltimore, understands the NGA’s decision but sees it differently.
“Allegations are difficult to prove and hard to defend against,” Hines said. “False narratives become believed and careers are destroyed.”
Hines said that if one of his artists was accused of sexual harassment, he would not automatically remove his/her art from the gallery.
“By leaving the art up, it forces you to have the discussion and we won’t shy away from doing that,” Hines said. “We’ll never move forward if we run from difficult situations.”
Hines thinks that #MeToo will have the greatest impact when people engage in discussions on the ground level, something he believes is a lost art, especially because of social media.
However, social media can engage far more people in the discussion according to Mark Sullivan, adjunct professor of Mass Media and Society at Towson University.
“Social media in particular has given so-called ‘ordinary’ people a platform to respond to the issue, which keeps pressure on those in positions of power to deal with it,” Sullivan said. “It is no longer so easy to sweep an issue under the rug.”
Artist Marie Danielsson-Yung teaches art history as an adjunct professor at Towson University. After learning how each gallery would respond, she sees the merits of both perspectives.
“Context matters and for emerging artists that are not known, Hines is able to use this as a teaching moment,” Danielsson-Yung said.
She agrees with the NGA’s decision to cancel his exhibition since Chuck Close has such a high profile as an artist.
“There is something about how you conduct yourself that I think is hard to separate from the arts,” Danielsson-Yung said. “He has such a name recognition and to cancel it really sends a message and I think that’s important. And that message is Time’s Up.”
Artists create art to heal
Artist and teacher Dawn Hennlein is sad and angry that so many women can say #MeToo.
“I hope they have an outlet to cope or express their feelings,” Hennlein said. “Art has always been a coping mechanism that I have turned to when I’ve gone through pain.”
Hennlein teaches art at a private school in Bel Air, Maryland. Working with children is rewarding, but her favorite days are when she can “play” in her studio. Using mixed media, she adds multiple layers to a painting, allowing herself to be guided by her intuition.
“Art is often my therapy — not just my hobby or enjoyment — it’s not always about the final product,” Hennlein said. “The process is where I love to get lost and I wish that for any woman who feels pain.”
For art student Dillman, the pain she’s experienced informs her belief that until justice has been carried out, an artist like Chuck Close should not be celebrated.
“I think he 100 percent deserves to be reprimanded and held accountable,” Dillman said. “Let’s acknowledge that and then end his reign until he is willing to acknowledge what he’s done.”
#MeToo raises ethical questions
Deciding whether we should judge an artist’s work by how they conduct themselves in their private life is an ongoing philosophical debate that is now intersecting with the #MeToo movement.
Zachary Sanders, an artist experience director for RAW, works with new artists in cities across the U.S., offering guidance and opportunities to promote their work.
Sanders said that if sexual allegations were made against an artist he was representing, he would distance himself from him/her.
“The art world should no longer make a place for those who have sexually harassed others,” Sanders said. “It’s 2018, come on.”
But is it really that simple?
“It is an abstract debate until it involves an artist we care about, “ Sullivan said. “For many, that moment came with Bill Cosby, when it became impossible to ignore the many allegations.”
Anne Martens, interpretative content and development lead for The Getty in Los Angeles, California, is ambivalent about the NGA’s decision to cancel Close’s exhibition, but she can see why it wouldn’t benefit the museum to move forward under a cloud of bad publicity.
“It is always a huge disappointment when an artist (or filmmaker, author, politician, musician) that we admire fails our expectations,” Martens said. “I can still appreciate their work, but it’s hard to get past thinking about the pain they caused.”
Danielsson-Yung values how art often engages us to have philosophical discussions.
“Art can communicate values and morals and make people think,” she said. “And even art that we might deem as shocking or offensive, in certain context, can have a vital role in helping us to have conversations about society.”
While the interest of galleries is primarily commercial, museums have mandates to serve public audiences. Because of this, Martens is hopeful about changes within museums, though she recognizes that there is still a long way to go.
Although #MeToo focuses on the treatment of women, she believes it’s a much broader movement about equality and human rights.
“The real question, I think, is whether as a society we really learn from all of these scandals,” Martens said. “Do we care whether an artist adheres to standards of moral and human decency? Do we admire bad behavior because we expect it of artists and/or successful, powerful people?”
According to Martens, there are a lot of big egos and powerful players in the art world.
“I look back at my own experiences working in creative fields and recall some shocking episodes,” Martens said. “My sense is that the best place for change will be in universities and art schools; guiding and supporting young people to recognize abuse and not accept it under any circumstances.”
#MeToo sparks positive change
Dillman fervently believes that there is no excuse for violating another human being. And she is incredibly proud of the women and men who are speaking out against sexual assault as a result of the #MeToo movement.
Eventually she wants to earn her master’s degree in art therapy so that she can work with at-risk-teenagers. She also has ambitious goals for herself as an artist.
“More women go to art school than men, but there are twice as many men who have their work in the Museum of Modern Art,” Dillman said. “I like to think I can break that glass ceiling and be an example.”
If Dillman succeeds, she will be helping to bring about a vision that Martens also shares.
“As human beings, we are complicated,” Martens said. “Do artists have to be geniuses and morally perfect, too? Once museum walls are filled with works by women and people of color, will we also acknowledge their human imperfections? At least those walls will also reflect a much greater range of human experience.”