One of the eight artworks by Colombian artist Oscar Murillo on show in MoMA’s exhibition The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World, temporarlily vanished on Friday 6 March, The New York Times reports. The work in question, titled 1/2s (Lessons in Aesthetics and Productivity), is part of a series of eight unstretched canvases displayed on the floor of the museum, which visitors are invited to handle.
Museum officials swiftly noticed the disappearance and security helped them identify the visitor responsible, leading to the safe return of the work. Margaret Doyle, a spokeswoman for the museum, made assurances that there would be ‘the appropriate level of security in the exhibition’, for the remainder of its run. No details were given as to the visitor-in-question’s identity and the incident was not registered as an art theft.
The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World is on at MoMA through April 5.
9 March 2015
