Tate gallery pays six-figure settlement to three artists

That’s why the news of Montserrat and Sharrocks’ settlement filled me with such joyful disbelief. 

Ben Quinn wrote this week that Tate had finally acquiesced to a law suit by both artists, after the gallery refused to commission Sharrock’s already agreed-upon year-long programme. The U-turn came when Sharrocks announced she’d be working with Monstserrat. 

Jade Monstserrat, a Black artist who works in sculpture and live art, has previously made allegations of sexual abuse and innapropriate behaviour against art dealer Anthony d’Offay. 

Lo and behold, d’Offay was a major donor to Tate. The gallery suspended contact with him in 2018 over allegations of sexual harassment from three women. 

Sharrocks’ claim against Tate was issued this year, claiming discrimination, victimisation, and harassment under the Equality Act. 

The artist said she was excited to have been asked to create three works across Tate’s main sites for Tate Modern’s 20th anniversary. But Sharrocks was astonished when an executive told her she couldn’t work with Montserrat on the project. 

Tate’s director Maria Balshaw allegedly gave the reasoning that Montserrat was ‘hostile’ to the institution, and such was the vitriol of her claims against the Tate – and Balshaw herself – that it would not be ‘safe’ for her to be involved in a collaboration at the gallery. Cue heavy eye-roll. 

Sharrocks publicly called out Tate’s hypocrisy after Balshaw’s comments. ‘Publicly, [they] claim to be focused on transformation and learning, risk, trust etc, but in practice they moved swiftly to silence, exclude, and erase’. 

‘Tate’s job is to support artists, not donors,’ she continued. ‘Tate forgot this when they insisted on excluding Jade from a programme she had helped to develop’.

The settlement paid to Sharrocks, Montserrat, and co-curator Madeleine Collie is a vital turning point. 

Grassroots art publication ‘The White Pube’ described the settlement as ‘huuuuge art world news’, and celebrated Sharrocks, Montserrat, and Collie’s resilience: 

‘I cannot imagine the energy and pressure these three artists must have been under in the fight against the biggest and the baddest of them all. I am happy that they have found this resolution, happy that it might inspire others in similar situations, and happy that more of Tate’s harmful practices are being discussed on a national level.’ 

Tate has since made a statement addressing the settlement and the treatment of Sharrocks’ proposed project. 

‘Whilst [cancelling Sharrocks’ project] was a carefully considered decision, Tate regrets the way in which the relationship ended. Alongside agreeing a settlement with those affected, we have apologised for the distress caused’.