I’m all for works of art being subjective but this so-called artist maybe should’ve re-thunk this particular creation.
And most definitely its location.
Daniela “Dany” Rose, who posted cutouts of brown paper dolls that appeared to be hanging by their necks and feet from strings, has resigned from the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art studio she co-founded.
The artwork, which was displayed in the windows of her home—across the street from an elementary school in the Clinton Hill neighborhood, was deemed racist and even drew a protest Thursday night.
“It’s either willful ignorance or at worst it’s racist,” parent Kirsten John Foy told ABC 7.
“There’s no way unless you have been living under a rock for the last 40 years that you could even imagine putting a picture of black children hung by a rope and think that was okay,” Rev. Jason Henrickson told the outlet.
Josh Cyril Barker of New York City’s Amsterdam News wrote: “It seems like the racially insensitive, white privileged newish residents to Black communities keep needing to learn the same lesson.”
Rose, one of the owners of Artshack Brooklyn—which has “keep it weird” as its slogan—initially wrote on Facebook that the homemade paper dolls were Halloween decorations in the likeness of the 2014 horror movie Annabelle, the New York Times reported.
“Because they were made of brown kraft paper and hanging from nooses, they were deeply racially offensive,” Rose said.
(Is there where I insert the “no shit Sherlock” line?)
“No one should have had to point out this obvious fact to me” and “right now I am exploring ways in which I can make amends that will be both meaningful and acceptable to the community,” Rose, who is white, continued.
By Friday afternoon she was out the door—tendering her resignation in a short letter to Artshack’s board of directors, which is now posted on the studio’s website.
“Please accept this notice of my resignation as Co-Director of Artshack Brooklyn, effective immediately,” Rose wrote.“ “This organization has strong roots, and I will look forward to watching it grow and thrive in the future.”
In a statement announcing Rose’s resignation, Artshack Brooklyn announced it will host a community meeting and is “working hard on a path toward accountability.”
That’s the spirit!
Cue Shakespeare’s line about rose by any other name.
Or the Lauryn Hill-produced Aretha Franklin 1998 banger.