November 17, 2020

43. Christopher Bedford

57 minutes

Christopher Bedford is the Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, appointed in May 2016. Prior to joining the BMA, Bedford led the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Massachusetts for four years. In November 2019, it was announced that the Baltimore Museum of Art would only purchase works made by female-identifying artists in 2020 as part of an effort to work towards “re-correcting the canon.”

He and I discuss what putting art in the basement means, the decency and care of John Waters, reliance on attendance as revenue, living our principles in museums, philosophies of deaccessioning, the Sotheby’s auction on October 28, 2020, the urgency of caring for museum staff, having too much art while being undercapitalized, how museums can be relevant today, the importance of close listening, what a civic museum could look like, and art that gives you an otherwise impossible idea!

References:

Lisa Yuskavage x Aspen Art Museum - https://www.aspenartmuseum.org/exhibitions/233-lisa-yuskavage-wilderness

Baltimore Museum of Art - https://artbma.org

Mickalene Thomas - https://www.mickalenethomas.com/about

John Waters - could not find appropriate link

Cindy Sherman - https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1154

Starns - http://www.dmstarn.com

Wolfgang Tillmans - https://tillmans.co.uk (referenced portrait of John Waters)

Mark Bradford - https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/2838-mark-bradford

Venice Biennale - https://www.labiennale.org/en

Rose Museum - https://www.brandeis.edu/rose/

Brice Marden - https://gagosian.com/artists/brice-marden/

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