The Jeff Koons retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art has reached its halfway point, and so far, reactions to the exhibition have been mixed (read our review here). On August 20, museum goers witnessed a different kind of art on the walls of the third floor: blood smeared in the shape of an "x" by Canadian performance artist Istvan Kantor.
According to Artnet, Kandor was seen smearing a vial of his own blood on a blank wall, and then he signed it "Monty Cantsin was here, Aug 20 2014." Photographer Antoine S Lutens took photos of the artist vandalizing the wall before stopping to raise his arms in the air next to his handiwork, which was located right behind Koon's stainless steel Rabbit sculpture.
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The Whitney issued a statement to Hyperallergic which said that the act was an "isolated incident," that Kandor was quickly apprehended by museum security, and that the third floor was "closed briefly and reopened within two hours of the incident." Hyperallergic readers have shared that this isn't the first time Kandor has smeared his blood onto things, including incidents that got him banned from MoMA and other institutions, and another failed attempt involving Koons and his Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculpture in Berlin.
Their readers also found that Kandor is one of the founders of "an international anarchist art movement," known as the Neoist art movement, and that they use the name Monty Cantsin as a moniker. Someone on Facebook using the name wrote to Hyperallergic claiming to be Kandor and said that he had been taken to a mental hospital after the Whitney incident, but has since been released and will soon share his "Supreme gift manifesto."
Never a dull moment in the performance art world.
[via Artnet]
