Tate announced today that Chris Dercon, Director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich, has been appointed the new Director of Tate Modern.
Chris Dercon (51) has been Director of the Haus der Kunst since 2003. For over twenty years, he has taken a leading role in the development and direction of major international cultural institutions. He was successively Programme Director at PS1, New York (1988–89) and Director of the Witte de With, Centre of Contemporary Art in Rotterdam (1990–95). From 1996 -2003 he was Director of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
At the Haus der Kunst in Munich, he developed a highly acclaimed programme of exhibitions by leading international artists alongside a wider visual arts programme including architecture, design, fashion, photography and film. Major exhibitions included Gerhard Richter, Large Abstracts (2009), Anish Kapoor, Svayambh (2007) and Partners (The Collection of Ydessa Hendeles, 2003). He conceived and curated the exhibition Amrita Sher-Gil: An Indian Artist Family of the Twentieth Century, which was presented at Tate Modern in 2006. He invited contemporary artists to respond to the architecture of the gallery: in 2005 Paul McCarthy created an installation for the building’s roof and last year Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei created the site-specific work Remembering 2009 for the façade. He has also worked closely with and presented exhibitions of Andreas Gursky, Herzog & de Meuron, Konstantin Grcic, Maison Martin Margiela and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Chris has been instrumental in integrating collections into the Haus der Kunst programme, especially of conceptual art, media and performance art. He has implemented major development projects including the renovation and expansion of the Boijmans Van Beuningen. More recently he has been consulting with architects Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron on the renovation of the Haus der Kunst.
From 1976 to 1982 he studied art history, theatre studies and film theory at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. He worked as a freelance arts and culture journalist from 1983 to 1988. He is a member of several international advisory boards including Iniva, London since 1993 and MACBA, Barcelona since 1998.
Chris Dercon said,
I am delighted to join the team at Tate Modern. Transforming Tate Modern is an incredibly inspiring challenge allowing us the chance to create a new kind of art institution, fit for the 21st Century, for London’s many different audiences. Thanks to its exceptional staff, Tate Modern is constantly evolving, almost like an art movement in itself. Indeed Tate Modern is many things for many people and I am thrilled that I will be part of it.
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said:
Chris Dercon has made some outstanding exhibitions in Munich and has demonstrated a commitment to showing art from across the world. We are delighted that he has agreed to lead the team that is taking Tate Modern into its second decade.
Chris Dercon will move to London and take up the appointment of Director, Tate Modern in spring 2011.