There has been another twist in the MONA’s Ladies Lounge saga, a move we should have seen coming from conceptual artist and accidental feminist activist, Kirsha Kaechele.
In a blog post on MONA’s website, the Tasmanian-based US artist behind the infamous Ladies Lounge admitted to displaying fake Picasso paintings, counterfeit objects she purportedly inherited from her grandparents, and even a supposed royal “mink rug” that was “in fact a low-grade polyester”.
After being found as discriminatory towards men by a Tasmanian tribunal hearing, the MONA’s Ladies Lounge, a women-only space designed as an escape from the patriarchy, was moved to the women’s bathroom at the art museum last month. Kaechele moved everything that was displayed in the Ladies Lounge to the toilet, where “you are allowed to discriminate”, she said.
But enquiries from a journalist and a letter from the Picasso Administration about the authenticity of the displayed artworks in the Ladies Lounge forced Kaechele into a confession – that she had created the artwork herself.
“I have no choice but to explain,” she wrote in her piece. “I’ve waited patiently for this day. Three years and seven months to be exact.”
What’s the story?
In coming up with the concept of the Ladies Lounge, Kaechele said she wished for it to be “as opulent and sumptuous as possible” – requiring “the most important” and “the very best” art in the world for men to “feel as excluded as possible”.
“The idea is to drive men as crazy as possible… but it is equally true that the Ladies Lounge exists for the purpose of providing a beautiful space for women to enjoy themselves – we deserve it, the patriarchy has been rough on us – and revel in the purse company of women, away from the overwhelming domination of men,” Kaechele wrote.
Kaechele wanted to display paintings of Picasso, a 20th century Spanish painter exposed as a misogynist who had a “wanton disregard for the women he painted and slept with”, to use the words of critic Eliza Goodpasture.
“I am a tremendous fan of his work and hold it in the highest regard… and yes, his record with women is… intense,” Kaechele wrote.
“And I like that. I liked that a misogynist would dominate the walls of the Ladies Lounge.”
But wanting to maintain the deep green colour palette of the Ladies Lounge, plus the “exorbitant” cost of Picasso paintings, Kaechele was running into problems, and running out of time.
“A few days later I was having drinks with my friend Natalie. ‘Maybe I should just make the paintings myself,’ I said. We laughed—how absurd,” Kaechele said.
“But then, as with many absurd ideas, I decided it was a good one.”
‘I was sure it would blow up. But it didn’t.’
Kaechele “told no one” she was replicating Picasso artworks and began the “painstaking” process – using the green tones she desired and recreating the “sensual depictions of the female form” from Picasso’s original works.
So close to committing the perfect crime, the opening day of the Ladies Lounge three years ago was almost Kaechele’s undoing: she had accidentally hung one of the paintings upside down. But instead of fixing the problem, she chose to do nothing, and waited to see what happened.
“I waited for weeks. Nothing happened. I was sure it would blow up. But it didn’t,” she said.
As women continued to visit the Ladies Lounge at the MONA, seemingly no one picked up on the replicated paintings, nor the other objects displayed in the artwork.
In fact, claiming to be inherited from her grandparents and great-grandparents, Kaechele displayed New Guinean spears that were actually “brand new” and jewellery that was “quite obviously new and in some cases plastic”. There was even a mink rug she said was made by Tasmanian-born Princess Mary’s royal furrier, but was in fact a “low-grade polyester”.
“I’m flattered that people believed my great-grandmother summered with Picasso at her Swiss chateau where he and my grandmother were lovers when she threw a plate at him for indiscretions (of a kind) that bounced off his head and resulted in the crack you see inching through the gold ceramic plate in the Ladies Lounge,” Kaechele said.
The question is: why would she do it?
In opening her blog post, Kaechele quoted Picasso: “Art is a lie that makes us realise truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of [her] lies.”
Earlier this year, a man from NSW took the MONA to a tribunal in Tasmania for discrimination in its exclusion of men from the Ladies Lounge. His claim was that, in paying the full price for admission to the MONA, he and other men visiting the museum should have access to see all the artwork displayed.
Deputy President of the Tasmanian Civial and Administrative Tribunal Richard Grueber said under Section 26 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 19998 said MONA’s refusal of Lau’s entry into the Ladies Lounge was “direct discrimination”.
Everything that has unfolded in this saga, including the tribunal hearing, the closure of the Ladies Lounge, and even her recent confession, is art – and feminist art at that.
“This mad and magical saga has changed me,” Kaechele wrote. “I’m awed by the transformative power of art. It has deepened my connection to women and made a feminist of me. My love for women burns brighter.
“I started as a conceptual artist and ended up an activist. And it’s made me reflect more profoundly on gender imbalance. I always hated hardcore feminism, but voila! Everything I hate I become.
“I am relieved I have told you because now we can revel together in this madness. Assuming you still want to speak to me. (I hope you can forgive me).”
Not everyone was impressed with Kaechele’s confession, some accusing her of being “dishonest” and “unethical”.
But others were in awe and applauded Kaechele for her work.
“Fake misogyny on display in a women’s space to entice men’s fomo! My god I love that,” one person commented on Kaechele’s Instagram post.
“It just gets better and better,” another said.
“My word. This comes close to my favourite artistic endeavour ever.”