A ‘sex abused’ X-hibit
Naked passage model sues over ‘gropes’
A former nude artist is claiming in a new lawsuit that Museum of Modern Art staff “turned a blind eye” and did not do enough to stop patrons from groping his genitals while he was performing at an exhibition.
John Bonafede argues in the suit against MoMA filed in Manhattan state Supreme Court Monday that his genitals were fondled by five men on seven different occasions at an exhibit called “Marina Abramovic:
The Artist Is Present” in 2010.
Bonafede was working at the time as a “re-performer,” which meant recreating some of Abramovic’s previous works for a special exhibit.
His job was to stand completely still for 75 minutes and stare forward at a woman staring back at him in a similar pose in a work titled “Imponderabilia.”
As part of the exhibit, attendees were encouraged to squeeze between the two performers to enter the next gallery. But on seven different occasions, Bonafede argues he was fondled in “eerily similar” ways, all by “older men,” according to the suit obtained by The Post.
In each case, it says, the man would turn sideways to face Bonafede, drop their hand and “fondle and/or grope” his genitals, “lingering for a moment before moving through into the next gallery room.”
One of the men allegedly assaulted him in direct view of a MoMA security guard, and another was “recorded live by a camera crew, which happened to be filming Plaintiff’s performance at that time,” the lawsuit states.
A third completed three different trips around the exhibit “nonconsensually groping Plaintiff’s genitals each time before he was finally stopped by MoMA security,” according to the suit.
Bonafede claims he did not report the first assault to museum staff because he felt the museum and exhibit staff had adopted a “tough it out” attitude to deal with anything unexpected.
One performer was also fired on the exhibit’s first day for not staying completely still and suggested to Bonafede he keep quiet to prevent the same thing from happening to him.
He has now filed the lawsuit under the New York Adult Survivors Act and is seeking an indeterminate amount in damages. The Post has reached out to the Museum of Modern Art for comment.