PRESS RELEASE
9 June 2016
Gregor Muir (b.1964) has been appointed Director of Collection, International Art at Tate. He succeeds Frances Morris, now Director, Tate Modern, who held the position from 2006. In this senior role, Gregor will lead the development of Tate’s collection of international art and supervise the international acquisitions’ strategy as well as research and advisory roles associated with the international art collection. He will also nurture and expand the Tate’s existing international networks including the established acquisitions committees, Tate Americas Foundation and the International Council. Gregor takes up his new post in January 2017.
Gregor Muir has been Executive Director of the ICA since 2011 where he has overseen a highly acclaimed programme of exhibitions by artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Pablo Bronstein, Isa Genzken, Richard Hamilton, Bruce Nauman, Dennis Morris and James Richards, as well as a vibrant cinema and events programme. He also staged a series of ICA Off-Site exhibitions in Birmingham, London and Hong Kong, and reactivated the Institute’s unique history through a series of displays dedicated to landmark exhibitions, such as the Francis Bacon exhibition held in 1955, and Cybernetic Serendipity also held at the ICA in 1968. Gregor was Director of Hauser & Wirth, London, from 2004 to 2011, where he organised exhibitions by international and emerging artists in London, Zurich and New York. From 2001to 2004 he was Kramlich Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate where he curated Time Zones with Jessica Morgan at Tate Modern and In-a-Gadda-da-Vida with Clarrie Wallis at Tate Britain. During this period, he also worked on film and video acquisitions for the Tate collection as well as a number of other significant curatorial projects.
In 1997, Gregor founded the Lux Gallery in Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, presenting exhibitions by Kutlug Ataman, Carsten Höller and Jane & Louise Wilson. In the same year, he curated Assuming Positions at the ICA, which included works by Hilary Lloyd, Tobias Rehberger and Piotr Uklanski. During the early to mid-1990s, he curated a number of pioneering video programmes and group shows featuring artists such as Jake & Dinos Chapman, Cerith Wyn Evans, Gary Hume and Sam Taylor-Wood. He has written extensively on contemporary art and artists, as well as releasing a book documenting the 90s London art scene.
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said, ‘We are delighted to appoint Gregor Muir as Director of Collection International Art. Gregor has, for decades, played a central role in promoting British and international contemporary art and has a wealth of relevant experience. He has had a distinguished curatorial career to date, and has built longstanding relationships with a wide range of artists and colleagues in the field. He is also a highly-respected author. We look forward to working with him to further develop Tate’s collection for future generations’.
For further press information please contact Ruth Findlay in Tate Press Office on 020 7887 8730/4941or email pressoffice@tate.org.uk