Since the allegations of sexual harassment came public against König Galerie founder Johann König, multiple artists have cut ties with the museum.
The allegations of sexual misconduct against König were first reported in August. Since then, many artists have officially or unofficially cut their ties with the museum. The most prominent name is artist Monica Bonvicini, who publicly announced that she was pausing her relationship with the museum earlier this month. However, the König Galerie only confirmed this now from their end.
While Bonvicini was vocal about her departure, most other artists decided to exit quietly. Trey Abdella, Basim Magdy, and Jeremy Shaw left the museum in August, without responding to any questions about their reasons for exit. Katharina Grosse, Helen Marten, Friedrich Kunath, and Amalia Pica also didn’t confirm if they have left the musuem, even though their works have not been displayed at the museum for the past few months. Elmgreen & Dragset, and Corinne Wasmuht confirmed that they had left the museum, but refused to cite reasons behind it. Meanwhile, König Galerie refused to comment on the association status with any artist.
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The German newspaper Die Zeit first reported the allegations of sexual misconduct against Johann König in August. Representatives for König firmly denied the allegations, as well as legally forced the newspaper to retract some portions of the news report. Since then, another newspaper, Berliner Zeitung, has reported on some inconsistencies and flaws in the report run by Die Zeit. Meanwhile, Johann König continues to lead the gallery without interruption, despite the first allegation against him first arising in 2019.
