Displaying items by tag: jeffrey deitch

On Columbus Day Weekend (October 10-11, 2015) the Antiques Dealer's Association of America, Inc. (ADA) will once again present their annual art and antiques show in picturesque Deerfield, Massachusetts. Held on the campus of Deerfield Academy, The ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show is celebrated for its stellar dealer roster and remarkable selection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century American art, antiques, and design. According to James Kilvington, a Delaware-based antiques dealer and President of the ADA’s Board of Directors, “In terms of quality, it’s the best show in New England and I think that...

On Monday night, non-profit organization Americans for the Arts held its annual fundraising gala in the Cipriani ballroom across from New York’s Grand Central Station. The black tie affair brought together a blue chip who’s who including RoseLee Goldberg, Agnes Gund, and Jeffrey Deitch as well as artists like Frank Stella and Will Cotton. Cocktail hour offered guests the chance to pick up a limited-edition print by Shepard Fairey to benefit the charity. “I feel like a bit of an imposter in this realm because I come from a not-asking-for-permission background,” admitted Fairey, who looked oddly at home in a suit. “But I am enjoying the company.”

The email said: “Across the street from your building/Black Mercedes.” It was a shining Saturday morning, and Jeffrey Deitch was parked by the curb with a chauffeur. The car seemed surprisingly flashy, a throwback to the Reagan ’80s. But Mr. Deitch, who resigned last year as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, has permanently left the nonprofit realm. He is back in New York, buying and selling art again, and trying to keep up with pretty fast company.

At 62, Mr. Deitch is a diminutive, wiry man who was dressed in a purple suit and wearing his trademark goggly glasses.

Christopher W. Mount, former Architecture and Design Curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, announced that he will open two eponymous galleries -- one in Los Angeles and another in New York City. The California outpost is housed in the Pacific Design Center, a multi-use facility for the design community, and will open to the public on Friday, May 23. The New York gallery, located on the Upper West Side, will be open by appointment only. Both locations will specialize in architecture and design-related material. 

Mount, a curator, writer, and educator specializing in 20th- and 21st-century architecture, design, and graphics, is an active member of the Los Angeles design scene. Last year, he organized the Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) troubled exhibition, “A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California.” The show faced multiple delays, which Mount said was the result of mismanagement at MOCA. The exhibition took place while the museum’s controversial director, Jeffrey Deitch, was still at the helm.

Three of the four artists who resigned from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles’ board in 2012 are returning in support of the institution’s new director, Philippe Vergne. John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, and Catherine Opie will be joined by the board’s newest member, the Los Angeles-based artist Mark Grotjahn. Ed Ruscha, who also resigned in 2012, is currently serving on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s board. Ruscha did join Baldessari, Kruger, and Opie as a volunteer on the search committee that MOCA formed to find a successor to Jeffrey Deitch, the former New York City art dealer who announced his resignation from his post as the museum’s director in July 2013.

Deitch’s tenure at MOCA was plagued by criticism. After firing longtime chief curator Paul Schimmel in 2012, Baldessari, Kruger, Opie, and Ruscha resigned from the board, leaving it void of artist representation. While the museum was in poor financial standing when Deitch came on board, the museum continued to fall into financial despair during his time as director.

Vergne, who comes to MOCA from the Dia Art Foundation in New York, has an extensive background in museum administration both in the U.S. and Europe. When the museum announced Vergne’s appointment back in January, Baldessari, Kruger, Opie, and Ruscha all expressed enthusiasm for the hire. In addition, his appointment came on the heels of the museum’s announcement that it had reached its goal of a $100 million endowment, most of which was raised in the past year.

Vergne said, “For me it is extremely important to have artists represented on the board. MOCA was founded by artists, patrons and civic leaders as the artist’s museum, and its incredible collection and record of groundbreaking exhibitions pay testament to that. It is a privilege to join MOCA with our new and returning trustees at the moment when MOCA is stronger than ever before.”

MOCA has included artists on its board since 1980, a year after the museum’s founding. 

The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art has concluded its six-month search for a director to replace Jeffrey Deitch, who stepped down last summer. On January 15, the institution announced that it had selected Philippe Vergne, director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York, for the role.

French-born Vergne is a veteran curator and has an extensive background in museum administration both in the U.S. and in Europe. He served as the director of the Musee d’Art Contemporain in Marseille from 1994 to 1997 and in 2005, he was named  deputy director and chief curator of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Vergne has been at the helm of the Dia Art Foundation since 2008.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is emerging from a tumultuous period, largely caused by Deitch’s tenure at the institution. Deitch was plagued by criticism after he fired longtime chief curator Paul Schimmel in 2012. Following Schimmel’s departure, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie and Barbara Kruger resigned from the museum’s board, leaving it void of artist representation. All four artists were on the director search committee. The museum released a statement saying that Baldessari, Ruscha, Opie and Kruger all expressed enthusiasm for the hire.

Vergne’s appointment comes on the heels of the museum’s announcement that it had reached its goal of a $100 million endowment, most of which was raised in the past year.

Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which has been plagued by financial troubles for years, has quadrupled its endowment to over $100 million in the past nine months. Just last year the Los Angeles County Museum of Art offered MOCA $100 million to merge its two facilities with its own larger facilities. MOCA turned down the offer, opting to remain independent and launch a fundraising campaign for its endowment.

The campaign garnered the support of nearly 30 donors including financier and philanthropist Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, who bailed the museum out nearly six years ago with a $30 million donation, and Jeffrey Deitch, MOCA’s former director. The museum is still searching for a permanent director following Deitch’s tumultuous departure.

MOCA is currently the only museum in Los Angeles dedicated solely to  collecting and exhibiting contemporary art. Its collection includes works by Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg.

After resigning from the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) board last summer, John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie and Ed Ruscha have agreed to join the institution’s director search committee. The 14-member team will help find a replacement for former director, Jeffrey Deitch, who resigned in July 2013. In addition to the four prominent artists, the committee includes several members of MOCA’s board including Joel Wachs, who helms the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Baldessari told the Los Angeles Times “pertinent qualities [for a new director] would be fundraising, experience in how a museum operates, and most importantly, past curatorial skill. It would be a real opportunity to whoever is appointed, because there’s nowhere to go but up.” Deitch, who resigned with nearly two years left on his five-year contract, was plagued by criticism during his time at MOCA. While the museum was in poor financial standing when he came on board, the MOCA continued to fall into financial despair during Deitch’s time as director. The museum recently started to regain its footing after fundraising efforts by board members garnered over $75 million in donations.

There have been a number of rumors suggesting that Ann Goldstein, MOCA’s former senior curator who recently stepped down as the director of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, has been discussed as a potential candidate.

After three years at the helm of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), former New York art dealer, Jeffrey Deitch, is expected to resign as director. Deitch announced his intention to leave the institution to MOCA's trustees and board. He is currently in the middle of a five-year contract with the museum.

Prior to joining MOCA in 2010, Deitch ran the Deitch Project, a massively successful and pioneering contemporary art gallery in Manhattan. He also served on the authentication committee of the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of Deitch’s close friends.

Deitch’s tenure at MOCA has been plagued by criticism. After firing longtime chief curator Paul Schimmel in 2012, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie and Barbara Kruger resigned from the museum’s board, leaving it void of artist representation. While MOCA was in poor financial standing when Deitch came on board, the museum continued to fall into financial despair during his time as director. The museum is just starting to regain its footing after fundraising efforts by board members garnered over $75 million in donations.

A meeting is schedule for MOCA’s board on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. A search committee is expected to form shortly after.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has offered to acquire L.A.’s struggling Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). MOCA has been at the center of a number of controversies after the museum’s chief curator, Paul Schimmel, left the institution in June 2012 after 22 years on the job. Critics have bashed the museum for becoming too celebrity focused and all of the artists who once served on the museum’s board including John Baldessari (b. 1931), Barbara Kruger (b. 1945), and Ed Ruscha (b. 1937), have resigned after disagreeing with the institution’s new direction.

LACMA Director, Michael Govan, offered to raise $100 million for MOCA’s two locations in exchange for the acquisition. LACMA made a similar offer to MOCA, which is currently helmed by former New York gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch, back in 2008. LACMA officials believe that the merger would strengthen both institutions and provide MOCA with stability and strong leadership.

MOCA’s contributions, grants, and operating profits have all declined in recent years.