David Lew: Artist sues Los Angeles museum after work thrown out

David Lew, pictured in 2011, operates under the name Shark Toof

An artist is suing a US museum and the city of Los Angeles after his work was accidentally thrown out.

David Lew, who operates under the name Shark Toof, is taking action against the Chinese American Museum in LA.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lew claims the museum threw his work out while it was still being displayed as part of a 2018 exhibition.

The museum has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.

What was the installation?

Lew's piece, entitled Shayu De Yi Nian Lai See (Year of the Shark Red Packet), appeared in the museum courtyard.

It featured 88 decorated empty canvas tote bags hanging on washing lines - a nod to Chinese immigrants working in the US laundry business.

The idea of the piece was that the bags would develop individual character over time - such as sun damage, canvas fraying or paint fading.

The art work appeared as part of the museum's exhibition Don't Believe the Hype: LA Asian Americans in Hip-Hop.

According to the museum, which is located in LA's original Chinatown, 14 of the 88 bags had fallen down during the run of the show.

Legal documents seen by the newspaper confirmed that city maintenance crew had taken down the remaining bags and thrown them out, days before the exhibition was due to end.

No-one from the museum was there to supervise their removal as, the museum says, they had not been informed that Lew's pieces would be removed on that day.

'Innocent mistake'

Melvin Avanzado, a lawyer representing Friends of the Chinese American Museum, told the LA Times the group was "still reviewing the allegations".

"However, the Friends of the Chinese American Museum did nothing wrong with respect to the tote bags that decorated the courtyard outside the museum. I look forward to proving that the claims against my client have no merit," he added.

A co-curator of the exhibition, Justin Charles Hoover, said he "assumed it was a completely innocent mistake".

The building where the museum is housed is owned and maintained by the city of Los Angeles.

The bags were meant to be sold at the museum for $88 each (£66) after the exhibition was over, and some had been promised to collectors of Lew's work.

"Not being able to see these things after eight months, at the location, was gut-wrenching," Lew said in an interview.

"It's like you're watching the Super Bowl and they say, 'We're not gonna call a winner, we'll just end it in the third quarter.' There's no resolution."