AN UPDATE
Rex Whistler, self portrait in uniform.
Wikimedia Commons.
The powers that be at the Tate Britain at last have decided that the mural entitled The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats, the centre point of a formerly much loved dining venue in the Rex Whistler restaurant, can be reopened with a new “contextualising” film. To recap, it was decided that the mural contained racially offensive imagery including depictions of Chinese people and enslaved black children. The furore arose after a petition started circulating started by a group called White Pube objecting to the racist imagery in the mural. Curiously nobody had noticed this imagery before, even the many diners who visited for the highly praised cuisine and wine and the Guardian food critic who reviewed it back in the day. You would have thought if anyone could sniff out racism, it would be the Guardian.
It also went unnoticed by Ben Luke, a former press officer for the Tate who admitted his “own complicity. I lunched occasionally in that restaurant. The chained black child and his naked mother in a nearby tree in Whistler’s design are not hidden but slap bang in the middle of one side of the mural. Still, I don’t remember seeing them, which now seems inexplicable. I only became aware of the full horror of Whistler’s painting when the critic duo The White Pube drew attention to it in 2020.”
I suspect the restaurant would still be up and running where punters could continue to enjoy the cuisine and surroundings, happily oblivious of all this horror had not the White Pube embarked on their mission to cleanse the culinary delights amid such inappropriate surroundings.
Having been found out and denounced, the Tate suffered a panic attack and closed the mural and restaurant which was closed anyway due to Covid, while they decided what to do next. A Committee was set up called “The Rex Whistler Mural Discussions” which was composed of four “people of colour” and chaired by Tate Britain’s director Alex Farquharson.
“The Rex Whistler mural presents a unique challenge,” he said. “The mural is part of our institutional and cultural history and we must take responsibility for it, but this new approach will also enable us to reflect the values and commitments we hold today and bring new voices and ideas to the fore.” Funnily enough, along with all the other numerous visitors to the site, Farquharson also hadn’t noticed the offensive figures who form a very small part of the mural but commented that “once I noticed them, I couldn’t unnotice them.”
Poor Farquharson. He was presented with the dilemma of how best to shoot oneself in the foot. Having closed the restaurant which was a lucrative form of funding for the cash strapped museum already stricken by Covid, a solution had to be found. Painting over the mural and obliterating it from view as the purists demanded was not permitted as as it is Grade 2 listed. Phew! Let us be thankful for small mercies. After lengthy discussions, the committee he chaired decided to commission a video artist Keith Piper to make a 20 minute video called “Viva Voce” which features an actor (Ian Pink) playing Rex Whistler and “Professor Shepherd” played by Ellen O’Grady. It begins politely enough, then Professor Shepherd becomes increasingly agitated by the racist imagery in the mural and other examples of the artists work which appear to caricature black people.
At the entrance to the room appears a sign which states ominously: “Content Guidance. This display includes racist imagery and language. Lighting is low in this room. PLEASE BE KIND TO OUR TEAM.” An employee was posted by the closed door. Hardly surprising that he looked nervous anticipating any possible unkindness directed at him. When I entered, the room was dark to the extent that the mural can hardly be viewed at all and the video of the Professor berating Rex Whistler is placed centrally. There were four members of the public huddled together on a bench. I am not sure what they made of it.
My thought as I left the room was that “Professor Shepherd” could have asked Rex Whistler one last question.
“Mr Whistler, when you lost your life on the battlefield in 1944 fighting a dictator who was the biggest racist in the 20th century, did you think you yourself would be accused of the same crimes as Adolf Hitler and your contribution to art and your memory would be traduced by a a group of nonentities and no marks?” I wonder what he would have said.
#Rex Whistler #Tate Britain.
June 2024.
Art history Unchained. 