Godzilla: Asian American Art Network
Founded in 1990 by Ken Chu, Bing Lee, and Margo Machida, New York, NYG
odzilla letter to Whitney Museum of American Art, 1991
Facsimile reproduction
Courtesy Godzilla: Asian American Art Network and Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University

Prompted by critical chatter about the lack of diversity in previous Whitney Biennials and the absence of Asian American artists in the 1991 installment of the exhibition, Godzilla issued a letter to the museum’s director, David Ross, in which the group drew attention to the lack of Asian American representation both in museum exhibitions and collections and on executive boards. Written by a working group consisting of Byron Kim, Margo Machida, Yong Soon Min, Paul Pfeiffer, and Eugenie Tsai, the letter put forward an argument for Asian American representation based on major demographic and cultural shifts in America and, more importantly, forcefully critiqued institutional multiculturalism and its claims of inclusion, thereby bringing this cultural issue into the register of political exclusion.

Through its extensive grassroots network, Godzilla strategically distributed the Whitney letter to key museum directors and curators in the city, Whitney board members, government funders, and the art press to apprise them of this issue—a technique commonly used by activist groups such as ACT UP to broadcast an action as a public issue.

As a result, Ross invited a delegation of Godzilla members to the Whitney to discuss the letter. During the meeting, the group explained the finer points of representation in order to address the institutional lack of knowledge about the value of Asian American cultural production. They argued that the visibility and interpretation of art are limited by the narrow subject position of curators and museum professionals, to which Ross conceded that “people tend to order what’s on the menu.”