Win for the DMA
Dallas Museum of Art snags new curator of contemporary art from prestigious post in England
The Dallas Museum of Art is always looking for ways to make the museum bigger and better, and the hire of international expert Gavin Delahunty will certainly help those efforts. Delahunty will be the DMA's new Hoffman family senior curator of contemporary art, a position previously held by Jeffrey Grove, who is now the museum’s senior curator of special projects and research.
In this role, Delahunty will oversee all aspects of the museum's department of contemporary art, including its exhibitions, programming, publication and acquisition programs. He'll be expected to enhance the museum's profile when it comes to contemporary art by showcasing the pieces they already have and organizing special exhibitions.
"Gavin shares the DMA's vision for the important role that contemporary art plays in broadening our community's understanding of the global art world, and its significance in revealing relationships and connections with art from other genres and time periods," said executive director Maxwell L. Anderson in a statement. "We are committed to expanding our renowned contemporary collections and to highlighting the work of living artists. ... His experience and knowledge will be an invaluable asset as we continue to develop our contemporary program."
Delahunty, who's expected to start this position in the spring, is no novice when it comes to those types of duties. He's currently head of exhibitions and displays at Tate Liverpool in England and was previously the curator at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, specializing in post-war art.
Among the exhibitions he's overseen at Tate Liverpool have been Alice in Wonderland: Through the Visual Arts, Charline von Heyl: Now or Else and Chagall: Modern Master.
Delahunty, a native of Ireland, will work closely with Gabriel Ritter, the DMA's Nancy and Tim Hanley assistant curator of contemporary art.
