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Artist Lari Pittman Among New MOCA LA Trustees
The museum has long prided itself on its relationship with artists.
The museum has long prided itself on its relationship with artists.
Brian Boucher ShareShare This Article
The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles has always prided itself on its close relationship with artists, and the institution has just announced that Lari Pittman is among four new trustees to join the board. Joining him are Mexican investor and sports club owner Gabriel Brener, triathlete and clothier Mary Klaus Martin, and hedge funder Adam Sender.
“Board development is a team effort—an important collaboration between current board members and staff,” says MOCA director Philippe Vergne in a press release. “I am grateful and proud that MOCA leadership continues to create a board that is reflective of MOCA’s programmatic commitments. We are international, we are a group committed to contemporary art and design, and we strive to become a better artist’s museum.”
Other artist board members include Mark Bradford, Mark Grotjahn, and Catherine Opie, who all returned to the fold in 2014, when Vergne took over as director.
Pittman, the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art St. Louis to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has also been included in major group shows such as the Whitney Biennial to the Venice Biennale. He has taught for twenty years at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has earned awards including the Skowhegan Medal and three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.
Brener is an art collector and chairman of the investment firm Brener International Group. Just yesterday, he bought a controlling interest in the Houston Dynamos soccer club.
After serving as a docent at MOCA LA, Martin became a charter founder of the institution, and is also a supporter of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County and the Kennedy Center, among other nonprofit organizations. In addition, she’s a tw0-time triathlete and the owner of an aerospace company based in California.
Sender has amassed an art collection including works by John Baldessari, Dan Flavin, Mike Kelley, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Rosemarie Trockel. Prior to founding Sender Company & Partners, he worked at Steven A. Cohen’s S.A.C. Capital (now Point72 Asset Management) and founded Exis Capital Management.