On Saturday, the iconic Pace Gallery building in New York was closed to the public a day after the space was spray-painted with pro-Palestinian messages.
Pace is the latest New York gallery tagged with phrases related to the conflict in Gaza. The Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery has been plastered more than once with posters protesting its owners’ views on the conflict, and several galleries in Chinatown were plastered this month with messages calling on dealers to address Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza, where they have been killed more than 26,000 Palestinians. since the October 7 Hamas attack, according to the local Ministry of Health.
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The gallery’s social media announcement of its temporary closure failed to mention that Pace was tagged with similar phrases. The closure came on Saturday, which is usually the busiest day for Chelsea galleries.
A Pace spokesman said ARTnews that the reason for the closure was the cleanup required by the spray-painted words and pasted-on images.
“Between Friday night and Saturday morning, the exterior of our gallery at 540 West 25th Street was vandalized,” a gallery spokesperson said in a statement. “The vandalism was extensive enough to necessitate the closure of the gallery while we complete cleanup efforts. The safety of our staff and visitors to our galleries is of the utmost importance, as is our commitment to fostering a safe workplace and open that respects differences of thought within our community.”
The statement continued: “We are a gallery made up of a community of artists and staff, many of whom are actively engaged in socio-political issues and attuned to global events. With this diversity comes divergent viewpoints. In cases of disagreement, we remain committed to support meaningful civil discourse.”
Images obtained by ARTnews appear to show Pace’s facade spray-painted with phrases like “Free Gaza.” Also, the gallery appears to be splattered with red paint meant to mimic blood splatter.
The facade also appears to be plastered with images that referred to the backlash Pace received when he posted an artwork on Instagram dealing with the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack. The attack is believed to have killed 1,200 Israelis and involved the taking of more than 200 hostages, some of whom have since been released. Israel said more than 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas.
About a week ago, Pace posted about signs, a 2023 video by Michal Rovner, an Israeli artist who is represented by the gallery. The video, according to Pace’s description, is “a call for the safe return of the more than 100 Israeli hostages still missing.” It features rows of figures moving their arms around; each person’s chest seems to emit a red glow.
“These hand gestures are a universal code for help, a sign of distress,” Rovner said of the work. “Red pulses are related to heartbeats, but it’s also a color of urgency and danger.”
signs appeared in Times Square as well as public sites in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. When Pace posted about the New York version, commentators seized on the wording of the gallery description for the piece, which initially provided a death count from the Hamas attack while omitting figures for how many Gazans died in its wake. .
Among the most liked comments on the post is one that accuses Pace of “washing art a genocide.” After receiving other such comments on the post, Pace appears to have edited the caption to include the mention that the current conflict “has claimed the lives of more than 23,000 Palestinians to date.” The post now carries a byline about the update; says the gallery has previously “missed the wider context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the horrific loss of life”.
This week, a screenshot of negative comments the gallery received on the post, as well as another poster labeling Rovner a “Zionist” and accusing her and Pace of “genocide” and “historical revisionism” were taped to Pace’s facade. .
