Nude artist sues Museum of Modern Art for failing to stop ‘groping’ visitors
A nude artist who performed in a Marina Abramovic exhibition is suing New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for allegedly failing to stop visitors from groping him.
John Bonafede claimed he was hired by the museum for the 2010 exhibition Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, for which his job was to stand naked while facing an unclothed woman who stood 18 inches away.
The pair were told to stare forward for 75 minutes at a time, with attendees urged to squeeze between them while moving between galleries.
In a lawsuit filed in New York State court on Monday, Mr Bonafede alleged that while undertaking the role he was assaulted seven times by older men in an “eerily similar” way.
He claimed each man turned sideways to face him, before dropping their hand to “fondle and/or grope” his genitals.
They would then linger “for a moment before moving through into the next gallery room”.
Mr Bonafede has claimed the museum did not put any verbal or written warnings in places to tell attendees not to touch the nude artists.
Museum officials knew the groping was a “pervasive problem”, according to the lawsuit, and failed to “take reasonable corrective action”.
Mr Bonafede, who is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial, said he did not report the first assault because organisers had pushed a “tough it out” culture, the lawsuit alleged.
Another performer was fired for failing to remain completely still and Mr Bonafede initially kept quiet as he feared he would lose his job, according to the court filing.
Mr Bonafede alleged he alerted museum security for the six following instances of unwanted touching and the alleged assaulters were removed from the exhibition.
According to the lawsuit, one of the perpetrators was a MoMA corporate member who had his membership revoked.
‘Years of emotional distress’
But Mr Bonafede claimed he was never given the identity of his harassers so he could pursue further action.
Mr Bonafede said he has endured “years of emotional distress” which have impacted his “mental health, body image, and career”.
The lawsuit was filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on old sexual assault cases.
While the window to bring new allegations expired in November, Mr Bonafede received an extension, according to the lawsuit.
The New York Times reported on male and female artists being groped while performing nude at the exhibition at the time.
It quoted one performer, a dancer called Will Rawls, who said an elderly man rubbed his ribs and then touched his backside.
“As he was passing me he looked me in the eyes and said ‘You feel good, man’,” he said.
Mr Rawls reportedly alerted a security guard and the man was escorted out and his 30-year museum membership was revoked.
The museum said at the time that there had only been a few irregular incidents and stressed that it had prepared its security staff thoroughly to deal with having nude staff in the gallery.
“Working with Marina Abramovic for the big Museum of Modern Art retrospective in 2010 definitely inspired me in some ways,” Mr Bonafede said in a 2015 interview.
“Mostly about how to handle public nudity in my performance, personal space violations and group negotiations for fair treatment for performance artists from institutions.”
The Telegraph has approached MoMA for comment.
A similar piece of nude performance art went on display at the Royal Academy London in 2023 as part of Ms Abramovic’s exhibition Imponderabilia.
Visitors had to squeeze between two nude models to enter the exhibition, although there was a separate entrance for those who were uncomfortable doing so.
The piece was first staged in 1977 by Ms Abramovic and her then partner, Ulay, who stood naked together in the doorway at a gallery in Bologna as visitors passed between them.