Animal lovers rejoiced when penguins from Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the Kansas City Zoo were allowed out on field trips during the pandemic. But apparently, the penguins aren’t happy about what they saw, as the contemporary museums contained shockingly little work by black artists.
“Why is there more ancient African art than there is contemporary American black art?” asked Icicle, a penguin from the Kansas City Zoo. “Feels a bit exoticized if you ask me. Would it kill you to buy a Basquiat or two?”
“I know good representation is hard to come by in this country,” says Domino, another penguin. “But for some reason I expected better from a space where people are paid to curate the best of our culture. Haven’t the staff here have ever heard of Kara Walker or Kehinde Wiley?”
Another penguin, Everest, bleated in affirmation.
Asked if she and her fellow penguins planning to come back to the museum anytime soon, Icicle is not optimistic.
“I just think if they can take it upon themselves to get penguins into a museum during this time, then they have the creativity and the wherewithal to get more black art up on the walls.”
“You won’t see my adorable little butt waddling past a painting, giving free advertising. Buy an Amy Sherald painting and get back to me.”
