Philippe Vergne (born 1966) is a French curator and director of the Serralves Contemporary Art Museum. Until March 2019, he was director of the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

(MOCA). He was the director of the Dia Art Foundation, New York from 2008 to 2014 and the deputy director and Chief Curator of the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

, Minneapolis, from 2005 to 2008.

Education

Vergne was born in

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, France in 1966. He received a BA in law from Panthéon-Assas University, Paris, in 1988, a BA in archeology and the history of modern art from

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

, Paris, where he also got a MA in 1991 and a MAS in 1992.

Career

He became director of the newly created Mac (Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille) in 1994 until 1997. He then was hired by the Walker Art Center as a senior curator from 1997 to 2005. Francois Pinault then hired him to head the François Pinault Foundation for Contemporary Art. He came back to the Walker in 2005 as a deputy director and was the co-curator with Chrissie Iles of the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition i ...

in 2006. In collaboration with Yasmil Raymond at the

, Vergne arranged an award winning exhibition of the work of

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best ...

which traveled on to the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur ...

in Los Angeles. The exhibition titled ''Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love'' was awarded the 2008 Best Monographic Museum Show Nationally from the International Association of Art Critics. He became in 2008 the director of the

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlu ...

, New York City, until 2014. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles appointed him director in January 2014. In March 2018, Vergne fired Chief Curator Helen Molesworth. The New York Times reported that Vergne's action "became an embarrassment for the museum. Known for her acclaimed shows of Kerry James Marshall and Anna Maria Maiolino (and for not supporting an upcoming show of Mark Grotjahn, a board favorite), Ms. Molesworth was fired suddenly, for reasons that were never made clear, with the media spreading the news of her departure before a short official museum statement was made. Mr. Vergne never issued a public statement on the decision." In May 2018, it was announced that Vergne's MoCA contract was not renewed, and he departed the role in March 2019. Before his departure, and despite the controversy surrounding it, by February 2019 Vergne had already been hired as director of the Serralves Museum in Porto, Portugal.

Honours

*Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 2014 *Chevalier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose i ...

in 2004

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vergne, Philippe Living people 1966 births Directors of museums in Portugal Recipients of the Legion of Honour Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French art curators Directors of museums in the United States