Apologies for having overlooked this in a previous post on Christopher Knight’s Los Angeles Times story trying to unpack the meaning–and dangers–lurking within the appointment of Jeffrey Deitch as director of LA’s MoCA. For Knight, being an art dealer means admitting that you’re the spawn of Satan. Or so it would seem from these guesses about the board’s motives:
Virtually every planning move its new director makes will raise questions about its relationship to Deitch’s veiled commercial entanglements, which are long-standing and international in scope. For instance, one question already swirls: Is MOCA partly making a play for the blue-chip collection of Dakis Joannou, 69, the Greek construction magnate, hotelier and Coca-Cola franchiser?
Joannou, a trustee of New York’s New Museum, where he is embroiled in a controversy over that institution’s decision to show a small portion of his 1,500-work collection in March, has said he has no intention to build a private museum. Deitch sparked Joannou’s original interest in contemporary art a quarter-century ago and has been his close advisor ever since.
LA MoCA Pick: Bold or Just Biz? (Los Angeles Times)
