Interpreting a Pandemic

The Hirshhorn's online "Artists in Quarantine" series chronicles the impact of the global pandemic on artists.

By Doug Rule

THE HIRSHHORN’S “Artists in Quarantine” is a video diary series offering quick, personal takes on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contemporary artists from around the world.

Artist Theaster Gates leads the ongoing series that will ultimately feature responses from nearly 100 fellow artists and become part of the museum’s record of the impact of the global pandemic on artists, their practices, and their views of the world. It comes as part of #HirshhornInsideOut, a slate of alternative, online programming to give the public access to a world of contemporary art at a time when the physical museum remains closed due to the crisis.

The artists to be featured in the series, says Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu, are “those creating, at this very moment, the works that will live on and become a part of our collective memory.” Chiu adds that in the interim, she hopes “these entries will inspire, challenge, comfort, and galvanize.”

The initiative opened with five such entries, short videos of between one and two minutes in length, posted to the museum’s Instagram and YouTube channel from Gates, Shirin Neshat, Christine Sun Kim, Ragnar Kjartansson, and Tony Oursler.

Several additional posts — from Marilyn Minter, Kent Monkman, and Hank Willis Thomas — are expected to be posted this week, with more to follow each week effectively until COVID-19 fades into history.

Visit www.instagram.com/hirshhorn for the latest entries in the series.