Museum of Modern Art in New York has chosen curator Christophe Cherix as its new director, it was reported on Friday.
Cherix would be succeeding Glenn Lowry, the longtime director of the museum. Lowry has served as the director of MoMA since 1995. During his tenure, he pushed the museum forward – including through two renovations and one expansion. Last year, Lowry had announced that he would be stepping down.
Christophe Cherix is currently serving as the chief curator of the prints and drawings department. He joined MoMA in 2007 and was promoted as the chief curator in 2013. During his tenure he led a wide range of exhibitions and retrospectives, most of which received critical acclaim. Perhaps the most noteworthy was the Ed Ruscha retrospective in 2023. In that retrospective, Cherix brought back a rare 1970 installation by the artist, which received acclaim and was featured at the Venice Biennale later that year. Other noteworthy exhibitions include an Adrian Piper retrospective in 2018 and a Yoko Ono art survey.
Marie-Josée Kravis (chairperson of MoMA’s board) said: “Christophe’s brilliant curatorial leadership in modern and contemporary art, deep insight and passion for MoMA’s collection, and reputation for steady stewardship stood out as indispensable qualities to meet the moment as the Museum’s next director. We are thrilled that after a rigorous global search, the Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Christophe, and that he accepted the appointment.”
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MoMA has a long history of stable leadership, with Cherix only being the 7th ever director in the history of a nearly century-old museum. After Lowry’s tenure of 30 years, it would be interesting to see how long Christoph Cherix leads the iconic museum.
