Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

The allegations, which were first reported on by The Montreal Gazette, were made via an anonymous Instagram account called @surviving_the_artworld beginning July 16. Posts attributed to at least three women accused the artist of “sexual abuse,” “emotional abuse" and “predatory behavior.”

Mr. Rafman disputes the accusations. In a statement published on his Twitter account last week, he said the women’s accounts, which he said were five or six years old, came as a shock. “I was not aware that these relationships were so upsetting for the women who came forward,” he said. He said his interactions with the women were consensual and that he wanted to “sincerely apologize for any emotional pain that I may have caused.”

A post on Monday on the Instagram account that published the women’s allegations states that Mr. Rafman sent a cease and desist letter and that the page owners intended to seek legal advice. “We are disheartened that this is the reaction to opening up a space to publicly address experiences of abuse,” the post said.

A spokeswoman for Sprüth Magers, a gallery that represents Mr. Rafman, said in a statement that it was investigating the allegations and condemns “all forms of institutional and individual violence against women.” The gallery had recently hosted an online exhibition of Mr. Rafman’s work, which ended as scheduled on Saturday.

Mr. Rafman’s work explores the relationship between humans and technology. His exhibition at the Hirshhorn would have included his famous ongoing photo project “Nine Eyes of Google Street View,” which he began in 2008. The piece takes its name from the nine lenses mounted on a Google Street View car, and uses screenshots of strange and provocative images captured by the Google cameras.