It has emerged that Michelle Kuo, editor-in-chief of Artforum, resigned from her position at the magazine the week before allegations of sexual misconduct were made against the magazine’s copublisher, Knight Landesman, ARTnews reports. Landesman this week faced allegations of sexual misconduct following revelations of a lawsuit brought against him by a former Artforum employee, Amanda Schmitt. Landesman’s resignation was subsequently announced on 25 October.
According to ARTnews, Kuo had tended her resignation on 18 October. In a statement published by ARTnews, Kuo explained that:
‘I resigned because I felt that, in light of the troubling allegations surrounding one of our publishers, I could no longer serve as a public representative of Artforum. We need to make the art world a more equitable, just, and safe place for women at all levels. And that can only be achieved when organizations and communities are bound by shared trust, honesty, and accountability. Though I may continue to advise the magazine through its transition, my final date as an employee at the magazine was today. I wish the very best to the staff of the magazine.’
Kuo took over as editor-in-chief in 2010, succeeding Tim Griffin. She is replaced by David Velasco, the editor of the magazine’s website artforum.com.
27 October 2017
This article was updated 7 November to clarify the date of Ms Kuo’s resignation
