> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Week in Review: Gallery Graffitied With QAnon Conspiracies; MCA Chicago Lays off 11% of Staff - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-gallery-graffitied-with-qanon-conspiracies-mca-chicago-lays-off-11-of-staff/ - Published: 2021-01-29T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:39.000Z - Description: Also, MoMA Chairman Leon Black stepped down as CEO of his equity firm following a review of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but remains on the museum board. - Author: Jasmine Weber - Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1) *Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://hyperallergic.com/newsletters?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.* Tania Bruguera and Katherine Bisquet were among a group of [artists detained during a peaceful demonstration](https://hyperallergic.com/cuban-police-detained-artists-during-peaceful-demonstration-honoring-writer-jose-marti/) in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana honoring writer Jose Martí. A Montreal Gallery was [vandalized with QAnon graffiti](https://hyperallergic.com/montreal-gallery-vandalized-with-qanon-graffiti-on-eve-of-biden-inauguration/). Ralph Alfonso, co-founder of BBAM! Gallery, believes that the spray painting of “Pedogate” is related to the gallery’s current exhibition, *You're Gayer Than A Picnic Basket*. Leon Black, the Museum of Modern Art chairman, [stepped down as CEO](https://hyperallergic.com/moma-chairman-leon-black-steps-down-as-ceo-of-equity-firm-following-review-of-jeffrey-epstein-ties/) of his equity firm Apollo following a company review of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but remains on the museum board. The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago [cut 11% of its workforce](https://hyperallergic.com/mca-chicago-lays-off-41-workers-prompting-backlash/), citing financial losses brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Artists Hương Ngô and Hồng-Ân Trương canceled their scheduled performance at the museum in a show of solidarity with the laid-off workers. Someone [threw a stolen painting into the Gardner Museum](https://hyperallergic.com/someone-broke-into-the-gardner-museum-and-threw-a-stolen-painting-inside/), the site of one of history's most notorious art heists. YInMn, the [first new blue pigment in 200 years](https://hyperallergic.com/meet-yinmn-the-first-new-shade-of-blue-in-two-centuries/), is now commercially available. In Russia, high schoolers are using [TikTok as a catchy tool of political resistance](https://hyperallergic.com/gen-zers-in-russia-use-tik-tok-as-protest/). Artist Edmund de Waal [donated his “library of exile”](https://hyperallergic.com/artist-donates-2000-books-to-iraq-library-ravaged-by-is-forces/) to the Mosul University Library, once one of the largest libraries in West Asia, housing over a million books and rare historical materials, before it was destroyed by ISIS. Paris's Centre Pompidou will [close from 2023 through 2027](https://hyperallergic.com/pariss-centre-pompidou-will-close-for-nearly-four-years-during-restoration/) for a critical €200 million renovation. A 3D microscope captured 9,100 photographs of Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring" to create an exceptionally intimate [10 billion-pixel panorama](https://hyperallergic.com/pore-over-painstaking-details-of-girl-with-a-pearl-earring-in-this-10-billion-pixel-panorama/). The internet can’t get enough of bundled-up Bernie memes, so we [compiled the best for you](https://hyperallergic.com/bundled-up-bernie-memes/). ## Awards & Accolades Twenty-two artists — **Abigail Donahue**, **Alexa Hoyer**, **Andres Santiago Pina**, **Anthony Huffman**, **Betsy Kenyon**, **Dena Igusti**, **Hsuan Yu Pan**, **Hyewon Park**, **Isaac Roller**, **Janelle Lawrence**, **Josef Pinlac**, **Katy McCarthy**, **KC Trommer**, **Kelly Marshall**, **Kosuke Kawahara**, **Madeleine Fia Matsson**, **Mingna Li**, **Nozomi Rose**, **Rhonda Weppler**, **Ryan D. Matthews**, **Selwyn V. Garraway** and **Yin Ming Wong** — were awarded the second round of free artist residencies at **LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island**. | [LMCC](https://lmcc.net/lmcc-arts-center-at-governors-island/?ref=hyperallergic.com) **Keijaun Thomas** was awarded the inaugural **Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists**. | [Queer|Art](https://www.queer-art.org/illuminations-grant?ref=hyperallergic.com) ## Transitions **Hanif Abdurraqib** is guest curator at large at the **Brooklyn Academy of Music**. **Arjun Appadurai** was named Max Weber Global Professor at **Bard Graduate Center**. **Akili Tommasino** was named associate curator in the modern and contemporary art department at the **Metropolitan Museum of Art**. | [CultureType](https://www.culturetype.com/2021/01/26/akili-tommasino-headed-to-metropolitan-museum-of-art-as-associate-curator/?ref=hyperallergic.com) **Mary** **Leigh** **Cherry** was named the director of enterprise at **ARTERNAL**. | [ARTERNAL](https://blog.arternal.com/arternal-announces-the-appointment-of-mary-leigh-cherry-as-director-of-enterprise?ref=hyperallergic.com) ## In Memoriam Jerry Brandt (1938–2021), entrepreneur and club owner *|* [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/arts/music/jerry-brandt-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Jonas Gwangwa (1937–2021), jazz musician, songwriter, and producer *|* [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/arts/music/jonas-gwangwa-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Larry King (1933–2021), award-winning television and radio host | [AP](https://apnews.com/article/larry-king-dead-391f55fabb843d14a2635a9bd55880d4?ref=hyperallergic.com) Cloris Leachman (1926–2021), award-winning comedic actress | [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/entertainment/cloris-leachman-obit/index.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Christopher Little (1941–2021), literary agent who aided the success of the *Harry* *Potter* franchise | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/books/christopher-little-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Junior Mance (1928–2021), jazz pianist | [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/junior-mance-jazz-pianist-whose-chords-were-built-on-the-blues-dies-at-92/2021/01/22/f7ff0d56-5c01-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d%5Fstory.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Elias Rahbani (1938–2021), composer and lyricist | [ABC](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/lebanese-composer-lyricist-elias-rahbani-dies-82-75036081?ref=hyperallergic.com)