A day after Artforum magazine fired its editor-in-chief David Velasco over an open letter about the Israel-Hamas war, another editor resigned and several prominent artists said they would boycott the publication if Velasco was not reinstated.
Disagreements over how to discuss the Middle East conflict have fractured years of relationships between collectors and artists. On Friday, Nicole Eisenman and Nan Goldin criticized the magazine’s owner for firing Velasco, who had been editor-in-chief for six years, and said they would no longer work with Artforum.
“I have never experienced a more frightening time,” said Goldin, one of the most famous living photographers and a signatory to the open letter calling for the liberation of Palestinians and a ceasefire. “People are being blacklisted. People are losing their jobs.”
Nearly 50 Artforum employees and contributors have signed another letter calling for Velasco’s reinstatement, saying his termination “not only has a chilling impact on Artforum’s editorial independence, but also calls into question the magazine’s very mission.” : to provide a forum for diverse perspectives and cultural debates.” ”
There was a backlash from some readers after the magazine published an open letter on October 19 that initially made no mention of the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
A sudden letter-writing campaign condemned the thousands of artists and cultural workers, including Velasco, who had signed the letter. Some collectors asked a museum to cancel a signatory’s exhibition, saying artists would find their paintings in the trash. Gallerists also asked people to remove their names from the letter, and some signatories received death threats on social media.
Artforum distanced itself from the open letter after receiving pressure from advertisers. The magazine’s editors later released a statement saying the post was “not consistent with Artforum’s editorial process,” adding that it was “widely misconstrued as a statement by the magazine about highly sensitive and complex geopolitical circumstances.”
Penske Media Corporation, owner of Artforum, did not respond to a request for comment.
At least one editor resigned from Artforum after the decision to fire Velasco: Kate Sutton, who had been co-editor since 2018, said she was “completely gutted” and “not sure I see a path forward for the magazine.” “
More than a dozen artists told The New York Times that threats of reprisals from collectors made it difficult to publicly defend their decision to sign the open letter and stressed that they intended to call for peace.
“Collectors always make a big deal, one way or another, of something an artist has signed,” said Eisenman, an artist who has exhibited at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. “But it’s still surprising to learn how many collectors believe that owning a few of my drawings means they can tell me what to do with my name.”
She added: “I want to repeat what activists have been shouting in the streets: Not in my name.” This war is not being fought in my name. I resent these cowardly harassment and blackmail campaigns designed to distract everyone in the art world from the central demand of the letter, which was: Ceasefire!”
While some collectors tried to persuade artists to withdraw their signatures, others wanted to express their concerns by selling works by those who had signed the letter.
“We have a withdrawal plan that is not at all identified for what it is and would only serve to diminish the status of artists,” Sarah Lehat Blumenstein, an arts fundraiser, wrote to members of a group in response organized WhatsApp group for the open letter.
In a telephone interview, Blumenstein, who is Jewish, said that such a plan had not been implemented and that her efforts to hold artists accountable were born out of fear that rising anti-Semitism would threaten their right to exist.
Goldin said people were mistaking anti-Semitism for support for Palestinians.
“Whatever position we took, it was our right to free speech,” she said. “I have no plans to work with Artforum because they fired someone I have a lot of respect for.”