Get used to this. With Jeffrey Deitch’s appointment to head MoCA there will be endless whinging from local critics every time there’s a reminder that it takes money to support an art museum. Today’s example comes from Christopher Knight. He’s upset that MoCA is holding a fundraiser with the help of Blum + Poe Gallery
The commercial entanglement makes one blanch, especially given the controversial appointment in January of New York art dealer Jeffrey Deitch as MOCA’s new director. Appearances matter. In this case, there is no way to determine whether the relationship between the gallery and the museum is philanthropic or business-driven. That’s not the gallery’s problem, but it is the museum’s. MOCA is stumbling into troublesome territory. […] Fundraising at a gallery is a mistake.
The lugubrious tone would be more impressive were it backed by some substantive reason for the objection. Instead, the entire argument comes from the prima facie assertion that any connection between a museum and commercial establishment needs must be corrupting.
MoCA Shouldn’t Be Fundraising at a Gallery (Culture Monster)
