The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was the most recent establishment to come under attack by environmentalists on Friday. The protesters wanted to draw attention to a board member's sponsorship from a company whose husband invested in fossil fuel ventures.
Demonstrations were held both inside and outside MoMA by members of organizations including Extinction Rebellion and the Climate Organizing Hub. While others held signs urging MoMA to cut ties with Henry Kravis, who, with his wife Marie-Josée, have donated money to various projects there, including a Studio space devoted to performance art and moving-image work, some staged a die-in in front of Refik Anadol's Unsupervised (2022), the well-known artwork utilizing AI technology in the museum's lobby.
Activists have previously targeted Kravis, claiming that his private equity firm, KKR, invested in contentious projects including the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline in Canada. The demonstration on Friday included participation from Wet'suwet'en First Nation members, whose land is affected by the project.
The activist's signs resembled pieces by Ed Ruscha, whose work is currently the focus of a retrospective at MoMA. One sign, with the words "MOMA DROP KRAVIS," was placed on top of the well-known painting by Ed Ruscha of a burning Standard Oil gas station.
That sign seems to be a reference to Marie-Josée, who is presently the chair of MoMA's board and has been a trustee since 1994. Leon Black resigned as chair in 2021 due to controversies surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and Marie-Josée was elected to take his place. (Henry is not a museum trustee.) She and her spouse have frequently been included among the Top 200 Collectors in ARTnews.
Extinction Rebellion member Laura Esther Wolfson stated in a statement, "We're disrupting business as usual because we demand MoMa be accountable." Admit the error of their ways and reject all affiliation with KKR. One of the most important cultural institutions in the world has an ugly mark because of Marie-Josee Kravis' membership on the Board.
An inquiry for comment was not answered by a MoMA official. In an interview with Hyperallergic, a KKR representative stated that the company was "committed to investing in a sustainable energy transition, one that supports a shift to a clean energy future while recognizing the ongoing importance of supplying the conventional energy needed for well-being, security, and economic growth around the world today."
The Friday demonstration stood out from many others that sought to create a distinction between museums and the climate catastrophe in one crucial way. The majority of the others that have taken place in recent years have featured protesters sticking themselves to the frames or pedestals of works of art or dumping food at them. Some of the perpetrators in one incident at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., were detained and subsequently charged.
With the exception of minimal damage to their surrounds and the materials used to show them, the artworks the target of these protests have largely escaped harm. However, some people have raised concern that these protests can potentially result in art being altered. For instance, the Boston-area Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum shuttered early one day earlier this month, ostensibly to prevent a demonstration that would have targeted the artwork on display.
Selena Mattei