Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is known for pushing boundaries and subverting expectations, but over the last few months, it’s made headlines for other reasons.
Earlier this year, a court ruled MONA’s Ladies Lounge exhibit was discriminatory, and curators responded by moving the artwork displayed — including ‘priceless’ Picasso paintings — into toilets.
Now, artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele the artworks in question were fake.
Here’s a recap of the saga, and how we got to this point.
What was the MONA Ladies Lounge?
The Ladies Lounge was a small space exclusively for women, located inside the museum. The lounge had a green and gold theme with several pieces of art displayed, and male butlers served female attendees.
The creators said the space was designed to provide a safe space for women and highlight the discrimination and exclusion faced by women.
What was the Ladies Lounge legal case about?
In March, Sydney man Jason Lau complained he had been denied entry to the exhibit, and later filed a lawsuit saying the museum had engaged in illegal discrimination.
At the time, Kaechele told The Guardian his experience was part of the exhibit.
“The men are experiencing Ladies Lounge, their experience of rejection is the artwork,” she said.
The case went to court and was found discriminatory by Tasmania’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which ruled MONA had 28 days to stop refusing entry to the lounge to people who didn’t identify as ladies.
How did MONA respond?
After MONA was forced to close the exhibit, the paintings were moved to a female toilet cubicle to legally be displayed to a female-only audience.
In May, Kaechele announced that the gallery had appealed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
Artist Kirsha Kaechele has revealed paintings presented as works by Picasso and exhibited in MONA’s Ladies Lounge were fake. Source: AAP / Charlotte Vignau/PR Image
Picasso paintings revealed to be fakes
In a blog post published by MONA on Wednesday, Kaechele revealed she had painted the ‘Picasso’ artworks herself.
She said the paintings were created almost four years ago and she waited for “it to blow up” and to be exposed “but it didn’t” happen.
She said she had decided to come clean following enquiries from journalists and the Picasso Administration.
Kaechele explained she had been unable to source a real Picasso that matched the green theme of the museum’s now-closed exhibit.
“I also had time working against me, not to mention the cost of insuring a Picasso — exorbitant!” she wrote.
“A few days later I was having drinks with my friend Natalie. ‘Maybe I should just make the paintings myself,’ I said. We laughed — how absurd.
“But then, as with many absurd ideas, I decided it was a good one.”
She also revealed several other pieces in the Ladies Lounge weren’t authentic, including a mink rug “made” by the furrier of Princess (now Queen) Mary of Denmark and spears presented as antiques collected by her grandfather.
The Ladies Lounge at MONA in Hobart had a green theme and featured male butlers serving women, but was deemed to be unlawful after a tribunal found it “deliberately and overtly discriminates for artistic purpose”. Source: AAP / PR Image
Kaechele also discussed the concept of creating relevance and value for an artwork by “driving men as crazy as possible.”
Reflecting on the saga and viral articles, she said the “mad and magical” experience had changed her.
“I’m awed by the transformative power of art. It has deepened my connection to women and made a feminist of me,” she wrote.
“My love for women burns brighter. I started as a conceptual artist and ended up an activist.
“And it’s made me reflect more profoundly on gender imbalance.”
