A painting currently seen at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao depicts a Black figure in a cowboy hat peering over his shoulder against the abstract background of the field and sky. The vivid composition, painted by Basque artist Gala Knörr, is almost identical to a photograph taken by the Brooklyn -based photographer and filmmaker known as dayday – a still from his 2022 short film Blue.
The film, directed in the sun and filmed in North Carolina, is a portrait of Ezekiel Mitchell, one of the best professional bull riders in the world. With visually stunning footage and personal accounts from Mitchell, dubbed “Blue,” the film chronicles his rodeo debut and his plans to become the first Black rider to win a world title in nearly four decades. . The faint light and soft palette of the film, which expertly captures the crispness of a white shirt and the red earth of the rodeo ground, is very different from the bright colors of Knörr’s work, but the resemblances are unique.
The similarities were picked up by social media users, who objected to Knörr’s painting “Young Cowboy” (2022) and other artist canvases at the Guggenheim’s Basque Artist Program the exhibition has no reference to the day in their titles or promotional material. Criticism was further amplified at TikTok, where videos by art consultant and curator Alexis Hyde and user Bona Bones called Knörr’s paintings “blatant ripoffs” of dayday work, a self-described Black and queer artist. Dayday’s credentials are impressive, including work for an ABC series on the exhibition Soul of a Nationa design concept for New York Timesand branding for Alicia Keys Masterclass series.
A text on the Guggenheim website describes “Young Cowboy ”as Knörr’s attempt to change the archetypal narrative of the American West by pointing to its roots in“ colonialism and a mixture of race, culture, and origin. ” According to the text, that does not mention the day or Bluethe painting is “inspired by the image of young Afro-American Brianna Noble riding a horse,” a photo from a Black Lives Matter protest in Oakland that went viral in 2020.
Knörr’s painting reflects the subject of the film in the day, not just in its form. In a scene in Blue, Dr. Demetrius W. Pearson, a professor at the University of Houston, lamented the way in which rodeo culture failed to recognize Black individuals. “It is unfortunate that the heritage of African American cowboys and their contributions are not only explicitly removed, but often whitewashed, from the records of American history,” he said.
A spokesman for the Guggenheim Bilbao told Hyperallergic that a resolution had been reached: Dayday, Knörr, and the exhibition organizers agreed to showcase the work along with an artist’s statement that “marked a visible source of inspiration for Knörr. “
“By tangibly linking the works together, we can start to reflect on the dual erasure of the cowboys of the Basque country and African-American cowboys in the United States from history,” the spokesperson said. Dayday and Knörr did not respond to Hyperallergic’s requests for comment.
Knörr’s gallery in New York, Paul’s Birthday, also released a statement on its Instagram page, apologizing for the day and inviting users to follow their work.
“We believe in giving credit where credit is due and want to encourage a space for collaboration of all capacities,” the gallery said. “Regarding Gala, we want to identify the paths he has taken to where he is and encourage cultural institutions such as galleries and museums and the artists themselves to reflect on their skills and the impact of them and to notice how their privileges lead them. where they are. “
In an Instagram post in August 2021, the gallery placed Knörr’s work at the intersection of “identities and technologies,” pointing to his use of media, popular culture, and digital images in the sometimes tongue-in-cheek. -cheek ways. In fact, the artist’s other works show his interest in found material, such as a celebrity photograph, unlike well -known artists such as Richard Prince. But recent controversy exposes the limitations of devoting to art, providing tremendous relief at how the approach beloved by postmodernists can lead to the confusion of artists from groups that are less historically representative.
Rebecca Polanzke, a New York-based gallery worker who has been vocal on social media, opined that the incident “feeds into the current exploitation of black art by white saviors.”
“Gala Knörr’s outright plagiarism doesn’t empower or offer a platform to these artists or their histories-especially if giving proper credit to the original artist is very difficult,” Polanzke told Hyperallergic .
Polanzke added: “If institutions like the Guggenheim really like how vibrant his work is, why not showcase the original artist or one of the many symbolic Black artists establishing themselves in the art world?”
