Goodman Gallery drops artist Gabrielle Goliath after her Venice Biennale selection

Instead of popping champagne corks and celebrations, Gabrielle Goliath’s selection as the artist to represent South Africa at the 2026 Venice Biennale was met with a curious response at the Goodman Gallery, her South African representatives: she was sacked.

Goliath, critically acclaimed locally and internationally, was told of the news on 18 December in a three-way Zoom call with the gallery’s owner and director, Liza Essers, and Olivia Leahy, a senior director and head curator at the gallery. The artist had been called into the meeting via email earlier that day.

Goliath said the news “surprised” her since she had “been with the gallery for over 10 years”, and it felt ironic that Essers and Leahy “chose to meet with me and deliver this news on the same day as my show Berenice was coming to a close in their New York space.

“They were already aware of me having been awarded the South African Pavilion [at the Venice Biennale], which is, of course, an exceptional honour, not only for an artist but for a gallery as well — and specifically one such as Goodman, which boasts a deep-rooted history in this country.

“I am still grappling with this severing of our relationship at a time in which I am facing cancellation and censure,” Goliath said, referring to attempts by Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie to change the content of her artwork Elegy in a letter sent four days after she was dropped by the Goodman Gallery.

Having failed in his attempt to make his imprint on Goliath’s work, on 2 January, McKenzie cancelled her participation in the biennale. According to letters by McKenzie in Daily Maverick’s possession, the minister had been motivated to censor Elegy after learning that part of it dealt with the Israeli-perpetrated genocide in Gaza. The minister, in turn, has stated publicly that his actions were motivated by an attempt to prevent an unnamed “foreign government” from hijacking South Africa’s pavilion in Venice.

Read more: Gayton McKenzie pulls the plug on SA’s Venice Biennale submission because it alludes to Gaza genocide

Elegy is a three-suite piece which also engages with the Ovaherero and Nama genocide perpetrated by German colonial forces in Namibia in the early 1900s and the ongoing femicide in South Africa, which has been described by President Cyril Ramaphosa as a “national crisis”. Elegy has developed and changed over a decade, and the latest version, which addresses the killing of women and children in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces since October 2023, was kept under wraps until its selection was confirmed on 6 December.

Those involved in the selection process were made to sign non-disclosure agreements, and the Goodman Gallery was first notified of the artwork’s updated contents on 8 December. Daily Maverick understands that no one at the Goodman was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, as there is an implicit relationship between the gallery and its artists based on goodwill.

McKenzie’s political interference has stunned the South African arts community, raised questions about a Cabinet minister clamping down on the constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of expression and caused the Democratic Alliance to report him to the Public Protector for investigation.

‘Structural business review’

According to Goliath, Essers and Leahy had stated that she was one of several artists that the gallery would be letting go, as it was facing “significant difficulties, which would necessitate further structural shifts, in addition to this downsizing of their stable of artists”.

This was confirmed in a statement released by the Goodman Gallery, which read: “Our representation of Gabrielle Goliath ended last year as part of a wider structural business review. The decision was taken in the last quarter, following subdued market conditions at international fairs, to reduce the roster from 50 to 40 artists, participate in fewer art fairs and reduce the number of exhibitions across the galleries in response to wider international art market contraction.”

The decision to drop Goliath, especially so soon after her being confirmed as the South African artist at the Venice Biennale, has raised eyebrows in the South African art world. The Goodman Gallery is one of the most successful commercial galleries in the country, and Essers is influential in art circles. Goliath’s association with the biennale would have brought prestige to the gallery as well as a financial windfall accompanying the increased value of her work.

The Goodman Gallery did not respond to questions raised by Daily Maverick. The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s Zimasa Velaphi has not responded to messages and calls from Daily Maverick since we published our exposé last Friday. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact her since last week, McKenzie’s spokesperson, Stacey-Lee Khojane, notified Daily Maverick on Tuesday that she was on medical leave.

Goliath added that despite being dropped by the Goodman Gallery, she was “deeply grateful for the continued support of [my Italian representatives] Galleria Raffaella Cortese, who have publicly expressed their solidarity and commitment to this work. And the outpouring of support from fellow artists, as well as curators and others, locally and globally, has been overwhelming… [T]his is urgent, as Ingrid [Masondo, the project curator] and I are well aware that we are not the only ones facing such challenges. And so, I remain grateful for those who have stood by me and shown their belief in the work.”

‘Chilling effect’

The DA, meanwhile, has asked the Public Protector to investigate whether McKenzie is guilty of maladministration, an abuse or unjustifiable exercise of power, and whether, through his acts or omissions, his execution of a public function had resulted in unlawful or improper prejudice to others.

In a statement, the DA pointed out that McKenzie’s “decision has serious implications beyond a single exhibition. It risks creating a chilling effect on constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of opinion.

“If a minister can retroactively overturn artistic decisions, then all future cultural work supported or facilitated by the state becomes vulnerable to political interference, regardless of viewpoint or ideology,” the statement read.

The DA further criticised McKenzie for believing he was “a law unto himself” whose actions “make a mockery of South Africa’s constitutional commitment to freedom of expression, including the freedom of artistic creativity.

“He swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, yet by censoring South Africa’s Venice Biennale submission, our complaint alleges that he has violated that oath, breached his constitutional obligations and abused his ministerial powers.” DM