43. Christopher Bedford

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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