MoMA is keeping the directorship of P.S. 1 in the family by installing Klaus Biesenbach, a curator for media and performance, as the new head of the Queens institution, according to Carol Vogel in the New York Times:
Credit: Ofer Wolberger
Nine years ago P.S. 1, a showcase for innovative projects in Long Island City, Queens, merged with the Museum of Modern Art, giving MoMA a new dimension with exhibitions presented in a different kind of setting and aimed at a younger audience. That affiliation is crucial to the complexion of P.S. 1, its new leader said.
“I want to start a real dialogue between the two institutions yet keep very distinct programs,” said Mr. Biesenbach, 43, who for the past three years has also been MoMA’s chief curator of media and performance. Last year, the two museums presented a joint show of the work of Olafur Eliasson.
Rather than undertake a formal international search, said Glenn D. Lowry, the MoMA director, who also oversees P.S. 1., the board compiled a list of possible candidates. But it never interviewed any of them after Mr. Biesenbach “threw his hat in the ring,” Mr. Lowry said.
“It is a self-evident choice,” he added. “Klaus is far and away the most qualified person for the job.”
