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A Hyperallergic newsletter reviewed exhibitions at the New Museum, the Guggenheim and MoMA PS1 after New York’s Armory Week, alongside other museum openings and cultural events. It also reported contract developments at three museums: two unions were considering tentative agreements, while the Whitney union had set an October 5 strike deadline.
A week of exhibitions and art events in New York brought new critical attention to shows at the New Museum, the Guggenheim and MoMA PS1, while unionized workers at three museums pressed for fair contracts, according to a Hyperallergic newsletter. The report said staff unions at the Brooklyn Museum and American Folk Art Museum were considering tentative agreements, and the Whitney Museum union had set an October 5 strike deadline.
At the New Museum, Stephanie Wambugu reviewed I Am Tony, an Arthur Jafa retrospective spanning two levels of the museum. The report described it as the largest exhibition of Jafa’s work to date and said it extends beyond the video art for which he is known. Its subjects include Black music, religion, American cinema, political violence, popular culture and the internet. Wambugu characterized the show’s ambitions as broad and idiosyncratic, with mixed results.
At the Guggenheim, critic Aruna D’Souza considered Taryn Simon’s exhibition Father Country I Do Love You, which the newsletter described as a web of connections unfolding around the museum’s rotunda. D’Souza’s review focused on the volume of material and the stories and documents the artist brings together. At MoMA PS1, Alex Santana reviewed Teresa Margolles’s solo exhibition, En el lugar de los hechos (At the Scene), examining how the work presents violence and borders through pared-down forms.
The newsletter also noted the Museum of the City of New York’s newly opened permanent exhibition on activism, built around 250 years of organizing history and related materials. It reported that unionized staff at the Brooklyn Museum and American Folk Art Museum were deliberating on tentative contract agreements, while the Whitney union had named October 5 as its strike deadline. The account did not give the proposed agreements’ terms or say whether either would be accepted.
Museum Shows Meet Contract Talks
The week’s events show two sides of New York’s museum landscape: public-facing exhibitions and the work conditions behind them. The reviews offer readers a guide to major shows across three institutions, while the contract talks affect the staff who support museum operations. The reported October 5 deadline at the Whitney gave that dispute a near-term milestone; the tentative agreements at two other museums could also shape whether their negotiations move toward resolution.
The newsletter is a roundup and review package, not a single announcement from the museums or unions. Its account provides a snapshot of developments and critical responses, but it does not establish the outcome of any negotiation or offer a full account of the parties’ positions.
After New York’s Armory Week
The newsletter framed the exhibitions and labor discussions as part of the busy period following Armory Week, when art fairs and museum openings drew intense attention across the city. Its writer also described a nor’easter during the week, a personal observation that served as a transition into the roundup rather than a reported disruption to museum operations.
Beyond the three main reviews, the report mentioned the Armory Show, a herd of 40 life-sized buffalo puppets moving through parts of New York as part of Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi, and a tarot exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum that had five days remaining at the time of writing. It also noted John Wilson’s feature documentary The History of Concrete. These details illustrate the range of cultural events covered, but the newsletter’s central focus was exhibition criticism and museum labor.
Contract Outcomes Still Pending
The newsletter did not specify the terms of the tentative agreements at the Brooklyn Museum or American Folk Art Museum, the unions’ outstanding demands, or when members would decide whether to ratify the proposals. It also did not report whether the Whitney and its union reached an agreement before the stated October 5 deadline, or whether a strike took place.
For the exhibitions, the roundup provides critics’ interpretations rather than a comprehensive account of each show or the museums’ responses. The article does not establish how long every exhibition will remain on view, aside from noting the Morgan Library’s tarot exhibition had five days left when the newsletter was written.
Watch Museum Labor Decisions
The next reported milestones were decisions on the tentative contracts at the Brooklyn Museum and American Folk Art Museum, and the Whitney union’s October 5 strike deadline. The newsletter did not provide later outcomes, so readers would need subsequent statements from the unions or museums to establish whether agreements were ratified or a strike occurred.
Readers interested in the shows can consult the museums’ current listings for visiting details and exhibition dates. The reviews offer a starting point for understanding the different approaches taken by Jafa, Simon and Margolles, while the labor developments remain dependent on negotiations and decisions by the parties involved.
Key Questions
Which exhibitions were reviewed in the roundup?
The newsletter featured reviews of Arthur Jafa’s I Am Tony at the New Museum, Taryn Simon’s Father Country I Do Love You at the Guggenheim, and Teresa Margolles’s En el lugar de los hechos (At the Scene) at MoMA PS1.
What was reported about museum union negotiations?
Hyperallergic reported that unionized staff at the Brooklyn Museum and American Folk Art Museum were considering tentative agreements. The Whitney union had set October 5 as its strike deadline. The roundup did not give agreement terms or later outcomes.
What was the new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York?
The museum had opened a permanent exhibition on activism, drawing on 250 years of New York organizing history and related materials, according to the newsletter.
Did the newsletter say the Whitney strike happened?
No. It reported that the union set an October 5 strike deadline, but did not say whether the parties reached an agreement or whether a strike took place.
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