Oliver Gill Blog Post #2 : White Artist Slammed Online for Copying the Work of a Black Photographer

Hyperallergic posted “White Artist Slammed Online for Copying the Work of a Black Photographer” on July 12, 2022. The article navigates the claims that Basque artist Gala Knörr’s piece Young Cowboy explicitly copied “an image captured by the Brooklyn-based photographer and filmmaker known as dayday — a still from her 2022 short film Blue” (Liscia). The film follows the life and legacy of professional bull rider Ezekiel Mitchell, nicknamed “Blue”, and “chronicles his start in rodeo and his plans to become the first Black rider to win a world title in nearly four decades” (Liscia).  

Left: Still from Blue, directed by Dayday (screenshot Valentina Di Liscia/Hyperallergic via Vimeo); right: Gala Knörr, “Young Cowboy” (2022) (used with permission from the Guggenheim Museum)

A collection of Knörr’s artwork had been showcased “in the Guggenheim’s Basque Artist Program exhibition” (Liscia) at the time and “made no reference to dayday in their titles or promotional material” (Liscia). Backlash sparked all across social media flaming Knörr; on TikTok “videos by art consultant and curator Alexis Hyde and user Bona Bones called out Knörr’s paintings as ‘blatant ripoffs’ of the work of dayday, a self-described Black and queer artist” (Liscia). Following this spur of controversy, the Guggenheim reached a resolution with Knörr and dayday “to display the work along with an artist statement crediting dayday” (Liscia). Author Valentina Di Liscia closes the article by stating “the recent controversy exposes the limits of appropriation in art, throwing into sharp relief how the strategy beloved by postmodernists can lead to the obfuscation of artists from historically underrepresented groups” (Liscia). 

As demonstrated by this case, appropriation is no stranger to being used in malicious ways whether purposeful or not. Knörr likely did not mean to “[feed] into the ever present exploitation of black art by white savior figures” (Liscia) but must now face the repercussions of being associated with plagiarizing marginalized art. Knörr’s actions further extend to reflecting upon an excerpt from Blue stating “it’s unfortunate that the legacy of African American cowboys and their contributions have been not only blatantly omitted, but often times whitewashed, from the annals of American history” (Liscia). Knörr’s actions undermined both dayday and Blue’s legacy and could have uplifted their voices had she credited her work. I would be curious to know if the controversy would have still been sparked had Knörr credited dayday from the start due to how similar the pieces were and the wider connotation of appropriating black art of a black figure by a white artist. Appropriated art seemingly expects transformational properties as well as a purpose for using said work. What reason did Knörr have for choosing this particular still? Does this reason matter if it hurts a marginalized artist? In any case, this particular incident demonstrates a clear-cut case of blatant plagiarism.   


Bibliography

Liscia, Valentina Di. “White Artist Slammed Online for Copying the Work of a Black Photographer.” Hyperallergic, 13 July 2022, hyperallergic.com/746899/white-artist-slammed-online-for-copying-the-work-of-a-black-photographer/. 

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