The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed former Whitney curator David Breslin to lead its modern and contemporary art department through a $500 million renovation project.
Breslin has worked as a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art since 2016. He will now serve as the Met’s new curator of modern and contemporary art. He is taking over from Sheena Wagstaff.
Beginning at the Met later this year, Breslin will oversee the renovation of the institution’s modern and contemporary galleries, named the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing.
He will work alongside with Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, the first woman to design a wing at the museum in New York City.
“The Met’s department of modern and contemporary art is at an exciting and crucial moment as it evaluates and continues to strengthen its collection while planning future programming for the Tang Wing, working with colleagues across the museum,” said Met director Max Hollein.
He said Breslin is a “proven leader and an enthusiastic collaborator with an exemplary background in collection building”. Breslin has “organized many important exhibitions, most recently co-curating the 2022 Whitney Biennial”, Hollein added.
The Met announced plans to reimagine its modern and contemporary galleries late last year. The project will create 80,000 square feet of galleries and public space.
David Breslin joins the Met
As well as modern and contemporary art, the new Tang Wing will feature photographs, drawings and prints.
“I’m elated to be joining the Met and my new colleagues at this important moment in the museum’s history,” Breslin said.
“The Tang Wing will allow the Met to uniquely reimagine and present the entangled histories of modern and contemporary art from around the world.”
The Met is home to a collection of around 14,000 works of modern and contemporary art by artists from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa and the US.
Images: Metropolitan Museum of Art
