New York’s Museum of Modern Art has promoted Michelle Kuo, a curator in the painting and sculpture department, to one of the most high-ranking curatorial positions at the institution.
Kuo will now be Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, a newly formed role that will see her continuing to aid in acquiring artworks and mounting exhibitions while also leading the museum’s publications program. She will take up her new role effective immediately.
She joined MoMA in 2018, having led Artforum for seven years prior to that. She departed Artforum in 2017 as it faced a lawsuit over its former publisher, Knight Landesman, who was accused of sexual misconduct by Amanda Schmitt, a former employee. The lawsuit ended in a settlement between Artforum and Schmitt.
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At MoMA, Kuo has organized shows such as an immensely popular—and critically polarizing—presentation of a Refik Anadol piece making use of AI technology. The Anadol piece entered MoMA’s collection after going on view there.
Kuo also co-organized “Signals: How Video Transformed the World,” one of the biggest exhibitions of video art in MoMA’s history, and an acclaimed show of works from MoMA’s collection that were selected by painter Amy Sillman.
In a statement, MoMA director Glenn Lowry praised Kuo for the “global perspective” she brought to the job.
Kuo said in a statement, “I am elated to assume this new role and expand MoMA’s support of artistic experimentation in all forms. Art is not beholden to any one geography, medium, or set of techniques– and I look forward to building on the global range and interdisciplinary depth of the Museum’s program, increasing access to new art and new media around the world, and elevating the voices of artists, writers, historians, and thinkers. These perspectives are essential in a time of acute social and technological change.”