Artists and Former Staffers Accuse Cape Town Gallery SMAC of Nonpayment and Withholding Artworks
South African artist Kate Gottgens accused Cape Town gallery SMAC of failing to pay her for sold works and of not returning artworks that remained in the gallery’s possession, according to statements she made to ARTnews. On July 2, she posted (and later deleted) an Instagram image of her painting Audible Doom (2011), saying SMAC showed it at Miart in 2022, it did not sell, and it had not been returned despite repeated requests over four years; she also said three works were “in captivity in Belgium since 2022.” Gottgens told ARTnews she left SMAC eight months earlier after 10–12 years with the gallery and turned to social media after months of emails and WhatsApps seeking clarity. She said the gallery contacted her after the post and paid her up to date, and she removed the post in return, though she maintained her broader concerns about SMAC’s practices; SMAC responded that it has acted in good faith and that most outstanding issues have been resolved, disputing what it called “false narratives.”
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Repatriation Shockwaves and Museum Ethics on Trial