Critics Slam “Petty” Removal of Joel Shapiro Sculpture From Kennedy Center
The National Park Service removed Joel Shapiro’s 24-foot-tall painted aluminum sculpture “Blue” (2019) from the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on September 2, drawing criticism from artists and activists. Crews began wrapping and disassembling the work before dawn, and the Kennedy Center did not provide a reason or advance notice, though an NPS street-closure notice indicated the removal would be completed by Wednesday afternoon and caused traffic delays on Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. “Blue” was one of 10 inaugural visual artworks installed when the Kennedy Center’s 4.6-acre REACH campus opened in September 2019, and the Washington Post reported that the Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation will decide its next location. Shapiro, known for angular stick-figure-like forms, died last year at age 83, and his works are held by DC institutions including the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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This story was covered in Leadership Exits and Forgery Wars Shake Art World