Hannah Black

Hannah Black is a visual artist, critic, and writer. Her work spans video, text and performance. She is best known for her open letter written with Ciarán Finlayson and Tobi Haslett, The Tear Gas Biennial, criticizing co-chair of the board of the Whitney Museum, Warren Kanders, and his toxic philanthropy which comes from selling tear gas and other weapons via Safariland. The letter prompted artists to withdraw works from the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Early life Black was born in 1981 in Manchester, England. She is currently based in New York City, though she has previously been based in Berlin and London. She studied at King's College, Cambridge, receiving a BA degree in English Literature in 2003, and publishing fiction in The May Anthologies 2003, edited by Ali Smith. In 2013, Black received a Masters of Fine Arts in art writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Career After receiving her master's degree, Black lived in New York City from 2013-2014 where she was a studio participant in the Whitney Independent Study Program. According to Hatty Nestor in Art in America, "Hannah Black's practice deals primarily with issues of global capitalism, feminist theory, the body and sociopolitical spaces of control." She is represented by the London gallery Arcadia Missa. During her time in New York, Black was a contributing editor to the New York-based magazine, The New Inquiry. Two years later, her first collection of writing titled Dark Pool Party was published. The book consists of seven texts "that blur the lines of fiction, nonfiction, cultural criticism, critique, and poetry." In March 2017, Black posted an open letter on her Facebook page to the curators of the Whitney Biennial in response to the painting Open Casket by American artist Dana Schutz. Black's letter advocated the removal of the painting with the additional "urgent recommendation" that it be destroyed. Black's letter became the focus of the ensuing debate around race, representation and notions of free speech that "split the art world". The controversy received international attention in both mainstream and art media.