The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA)announced the appointment of Dan Cameron as Chief Curator. With more than three decades of organizing acclaimed exhibitions of contemporary art throughout the United States and abroad, Cameron’s experience and perspective will strengthen the museum’s curatorial program and bring a major new voice into the artistic community of Southern California.
Among his many accomplishments, Cameron was the first U.S. commissioner for the Aperto section at the 1988 Venice Biennale; in 1994 he curated Cocido y Crudo at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, the most comprehensive exhibition of new international art ever presented in Spain; in 2003 he presented Poetic Justice, the 8th Istanbul Biennial; and in 2008 he launched Prospect New Orleans, the largest biennial of international contemporary art in the United States. His appointment begins January 2012, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Orange County Museum of Art.
Cameron’s appointment follows nearly a decade of substantial growth and accomplishment in OCMA’s curatorial program. Over the last eight years the museum has organized nine exhibitions of modern and contemporary art that have traveled to twenty-two museums in the United States, Europe, and Canada, an unprecedented record of achievement for a museum of OCMA’s size and key indicator of the museum’s leadership in the field. During this period, the museum’s California Biennial has become a major event in the art world and helped establish the careers of hundreds of artists. The museum’s collection has also grown significantly, building on the strength of its holdings in post-1950s California art, and expanded into national and international contemporary art, particularly the work of artists presented in the exhibition program. Cameron’s extensive knowledge of global artistic developments, unparalleled international network, and innovative curatorial practice will further propel the museum into the spotlight and enhance its reputation as one of the most progressive and dynamic museums in America. During his first year, Cameron will focus on the 2013 California Biennial, organize the first major exhibition of modern and contemporary art from Orange County collections, and begin planning for a series of exhibitions that advance the museum’s goals of collaborating with visionary artists and institutions, recognizing the future of art as it emerges, and producing projects that place contemporary art within broader social and cultural contexts.
Prior to founding Prospect New Orleans, Dan Cameron was Senior Curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York from 1995 until 2006, where OCMA Director Dennis Szakacs also served as Deputy Director from 1996 to 2003. While at the New Museum, Cameron organized a ground- breaking series of survey exhibitions devoted to important, yet at the time under-recognized artists including Carolee Schneemann, Faith Ringgold, Adrian Piper, Martha Rosler, William Kentridge, Cildo Meireles, Mona Hatoum, Doris Salcedo, Paul McCarthy and Carroll Dunham among many others. In the years since, major museums around the world have presented exhibitions by the artists first championed by Cameron while at the New Museum and in the many thematic and biennial exhibitions he has organized as an independent curator since 1984. In 2008 Cameron was invited by Szakacs to guest- curate Peter Saul for the Orange County Museum of Art, the artist’s first survey exhibition and the only exhibition in the United States named to both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times Best of 2008 lists.
Commenting on Cameron’s appointment, OCMA Director Dennis Szakacs stated “I’ve known, admired, and worked with Dan over many years and am delighted that he will come to OCMA as Chief Curator. He’s one of the most accomplished contemporary art curators in the world and his energy, passion, intellectual curiosity, and ability to make the case for contemporary art’s relevance within our broader culture are unparalleled. In every sense Dan has always led rather than followed, taken risks rather than played it safe, and amplified the voice of artists as creative individuals. We are the right platform, and this is the right time and place for his talents to flourish. I eagerly await Dan’s arrival and the impact that he will undoubtly make in Southern California.”
The Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach is located at 850 San Clemente Drive in Newport Beach, California. Hours are 11 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours Thursdays from 11 am to 8 pm. Admission is $12 adults; $10 seniors and students; children twelve and under and OCMA members are free. All facilities are handicapped accessible. For more information, call 949.759.1122 or visit www.ocma.net.