<blockquote>The Museum of Contemporary Art has fired chief curator Paul Schimmel, a respected art world figure who was at odds with board members and director Jeffrey Deitch over the direction of the museum.
Schimmel, who headed the MOCA curatorial staff for 22 years, was let go Wednesday after a vote of the museum board. According to several sources, he was summoned to the office of billionaire art collector and philanthropist Eli Broad, MOCA’s top funder, and told of the board’s decision.
Although many people have known that Schimmel and Deitch barely spoke and disagreed over what course the museum should take, others still expressed surprise at Schimmel’s firing.
There also was dismay at the way the museum handled the high-level termination. It was first reported on a New York gallery blog, then picked up and disseminated widely on Twitter.
Hours later, MOCA issued a terse announcement: “Paul Schimmel is stepping down as MOCA’s chief curator. It’s amicable and there will be a release tomorrow.”
Board co-chairmen David Johnson and Maria Bell, as well as Deitch, declined to comment. Schimmel would not discuss the matter, referring a reporter to Johnson.
Schimmel and Deitch had competing visions for the museum. Although Schimmel is known for staging popular shows like a 2007 retrospective of the artist Takashi Murakami, he also developed serious, research-driven exhibitions that took on entire art movements.
Deitch was hired as MOCA’s director two years ago, shortly after the museum emerged from a financial crisis. His gallery Deitch Projects in New York City was known for exhibitions and special events that brought together visual art, the underground music scene and other facets of youth culture, which the MOCA board members who chose him hoped he could bring to the museum.
Among the shows he has organized at MOCA were the successful 2011 “Art in the Streets” exhibition, a show of artwork by the late actor Dennis Hopper, and unconventional exhibitions and events featuring actor James Franco.
John Baldessari, one of L.A.’s most esteemed artists and a MOCA board member, said he did not understand why Schimmel was dismissed and regretted not having been at the meeting at which trustees voted to fire him.
Baldessari said that “it seemed there was an uneasy relationship” between Deitch and Schimmel, but that nothing could justify firing the chief curator. “It would have to be pretty strong reasons, ” he said.
“What propels a good museum is the vision of the curators who are there, their long-term vision for the shows they might do,” Baldessari said, calling Schimmel “a major curator — the breadth and depth of the shows were always amazing, and very important in the art world.”
“I think this is a potential tipping point for MOCA,” Baldessari said. “First I want to know the reasons for him being fired and if they were sufficient to warrant him being fired.”</blockquote>
(via L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art fires chief curator – latimes.com where you can find more details. Perhaps the resignation of Opie and Kruger from the MOCA board today is a residual effect of the hiring of Deitch and the firing of Schimmel)