The gallery says it has nothing to do with the philanthropist family’s fall from grace
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, one of two buildings owned by the London institution, will now be referred to as the Serpentine North Gallery. Opened in a former gunpowder store in 2013, it was named after the now-disgraced philanthropist family following a £5.5m donation from a foundation run by Theresa and Mortimer Sackler.
A spokeswoman for the gallery told The Art Newspaper that the decision had nothing to do with the controversy engulfing the Sacklers, but is instead part of a ‘rebranding’ process: ‘We recently introduced new way-finding terminology to help visitors distinguish between the two galleries’. While the Sackler name will remain on the building’s façade, it has been removed from the website and marketing materials.
The Sackler family, as principal owners of Purdue Pharma and producers of OxyContin, have been blamed for the opioid-addiction crisis in America. In 2019, the Serpentine said that it would no longer accept donations from the Sackler family. As she staged an exhibition at the gallery that same year, artist and activist Hito Steyerl called on the Serpentine and other museums to sever ties with the Sacklers.
Art institutions around the world have been reckoning with their involvement with the Sackler family. Numerous protests by the group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (P.A.I.N.), led by artist Nan Goldin, have been staged at museums accepting Sackler funding, including the Met and Guggenheim Museums in New York and the Louvre in Paris. Many have since then vowed to stop accepting gifts from the family, including London’s National Portrait Gallery who, in 2019, turned down a £1m gift after Goldin threatened to back out of an exhibition.
Purdue Pharma is currently involved in ongoing bankruptcy litigation. The company filed a bankruptcy restructuring plan last week, which would require the removal of the Sackler family from leadership positions and transform the company into a new corporation, whose revenues would be directed exclusively towards fighting the opioid crisis.
Speaking to Artnet about the Serpentine’s renaming, Goldin said ‘the news gives us some hope… but we wish museums wouldn’t dissemble their true motives when releasing these statements and would give credit where it’s due. Despite the Sacklers’ army of million-dollar lawyers who can secure them immunity in any court, they will never be able to defend them in the court of public opinion.’
