Sensitive to Art & its Discontents

As the world grapples with the fast-spreading Omicron variant, health experts are increasingly recommending the use of medical-grade masks instead of cloth face coverings to help prevent coronavirus transmission. While there are no local, state, or federal laws that mandate the use of certain masks over others, one West Coast museum has taken matters into its own hands, revamping its masking policy this week.

The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is now asking visitors to arrive wearing a surgical, KN95, N95, or KF94 face mask. If the visitor does not have one of the approved masks, MOCA can provide a surgical mask, a museum spokesperson told Hyperallergic.

“Cloth masks, neck gaiters, open-chin triangle bandanas, and face coverings containing valves, mesh material, or holes of any kind are not acceptable,” the museum said in an Instagram post.

We have updated our mask policy to keep everyone safe at MOCA! Upon arrival to MOCA, please wear a surgical, KF94, KN95, or N95 face mask that covers your nose and mouth. Cloth masks are no longer acceptable. Thank you for helping us protect our staff & visitors! pic.twitter.com/dPRJMUa7cy

The move came shortly after the California Department of Public Health published updated guidance ranking the effectiveness of masks, with N95 masks being the gold standard. KF94s and KF95s came in second, while fabric masks “with three or more cloth layers” were labeled as “least effective.”

Wearing any mask is better than none in curbing the spread of COVID-19, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) has not changed its guidelines to rule out cloth masks at this stage. However, research shows that some face coverings are significantly more protective than others: a recent study found that the risk of transmission can be reduced by a factor of 75 when both the infectious and susceptible individuals are wearing wear N95-style masks (compared to regular surgical masks).

Institutions and businesses are finding ways to adapt to the rapidly-changing virus panorama as Omicron cases continue to soar nationwide. Like MOCA, several universities have also banned cloth face coverings, while the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City is requiring booster shots for all its employees.

But don’t toss your cloth mask just yet: MOCA says you can still wear one, so long as it’s combined with a medical-grade option. The LA museum and many others continue to sell artist-designed cloth coverings at their gift shops. Double-masking is only recommended for surgical masks; N95 masks should not be used with any other face coverings.

This week, another Benin bronze is returned to Nigeria, looking at the Black Arts Movement in the US South, Senegal’s vibrant new architecture, why films are more gray, and much more.

It is precisely Moon’s openness to using any source that makes her work flamboyant, captivating, odd, funny, smart, uncanny, comically monstrous, and unsettling. And, most of all, over the top.

Curated by Eric Brown, this exhibition at the Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation in New York is on view through February 26.

Tensions between resistance to Surrealism as cultural imperialism and the embrace of it as a universalist vision of freedom unfettered run through the show.

Imagining the photographic print as a singular art object.

An exhibition at Pepperdine University in Malibu chronicles the achievements and contributions of African Americans over the last five centuries.

Decolonize SAM says the museum is “putting property over people” by implementing harsh measures against the unhoused community in lieu of alternative efforts.

David Reeb’s painting was removed due to political pressure from the local mayor, prompting backlash by other artists.

The residency program awards 17 visual artists a year of rent-free studio space in New York City. Applications are due by February 15.

Thomas was a major artist who in her lifetime was unjustly denied the acclaim she merited. This show is a brave beginning.

For years, Fueki has been quietly creating a singular body of mind-bending work that has never fit into the New York art world.

What if every regional museum could offer free or subsidized daycare that taught secular values about participatory democracy and culture?

Valentina Di Liscia is a staff writer for Hyperallergic. Originally from Argentina, she studied at the University of Chicago and is currently working on her MA at Hunter College, where she received the... More by Valentina Di Liscia

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Hyperallergic is a forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking about art in the world today. Founded in 2009, Hyperallergic is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.