Artcritical Publishes Multi-Voice Enquête on Dana Schutz's 'Open Casket' Controversy at 2017 Whitney Biennial
Artcritical released an 'enquête' regarding Dana Schutz's 2016 artwork 'Open Casket,' which was featured in the 2017 Whitney Biennial and portrays the brutalized face of Emmett Till. This piece ignited discussions surrounding artistic liberty, racial representation, and cultural appropriation. A letter from Hannah Black calling for its removal incited protests, with Parker Bright and other Black artists voicing their anger. Critics examined Schutz's motivations, considering her perspective as a white mother empathizing with Mamie Till Bradley's sorrow, while also scrutinizing her artistic style. The painting's considerable size fostered a sense of unsettling closeness. Additionally, comparisons were drawn to the works of Henry Taylor, Jordan Wolfson, Vija Celmins, and Gerhard Richter, alongside Kara Walker's advocacy for artistic innovation and wider issues of representation in art.
Key facts
- Dana Schutz's painting 'Open Casket' (2016) was exhibited in the 2017 Whitney Biennial
- The painting depicts Emmett Till's mutilated face based on Jet magazine photographs
- Hannah Black wrote an open letter demanding the painting's destruction
- Parker Bright and other African-American artists protested the work
- Artcritical published an 'enquête' with 14 contributors on March 27, 2017
- Schutz stated she painted from empathy as a mother connecting to Mamie Till Bradley
- The painting uses Schutz's signature abstract style with pinks, reds, beiges and browns
- Many critics argued the work fails to transform its photographic source material
Entities
Artists
- Dana Schutz
- Sascha Behrendt
- David Carrier
- David Cohen
- Lisa Corinne Davis
- Anne Harris
- Susan Jennings
- Ken Johnson
- Dennis Kardon
- Lee Ann Norman
- Walter Robinson
- Seph Rodney
- Suzy Spence
- Peter Williams
- Alexi Worth
- Kara Walker
- Gary Indiana
- Hannah Black
- Parker Bright
- Kelley Walker
- Henry Taylor
- Jordan Wolfson
- Vija Celmins
- Gerhard Richter
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- John Currin
- Lisa Yuskavage
- Alex Katz
- Will Cotton
- Philip Guston
- Kerry James Marshall
- Jacob Lawrence
- Laylah Ali
- Artemisia Gentileschi
- Willem de Kooning
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Francis Bacon
- Emmett Till
- Mamie Till Bradley
- Mamie Till Mobley
- Philando Castile
- Michael Brown
- Eric Garner
- Tamir Rice
- Roy Bryant
- J.W. Williams
- Carolyn Bryant
- Christina Sharpe
- Siddartha Mitter
- Christopher Y. Lew
- Mia Locks
- Jerry Saltz
- Roberta Smith
- Picasso
Institutions
- Artcritical
- Whitney Biennial
- Whitney Museum
- The Guardian
- Jet Magazine
- The Chicago Defender
- Contemporary Art Museum of Saint Louis
- Whitney
- New York Magazine
- New York Times
- ArtReview
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Saint Louis
- Tallahatchie River
- Mississippi
- Berlin
- Germany
- Paris
- France
- Basque