The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., has appointed Stéphane Aquin as chief curator. The appointment was made by Melissa Chiu who was named director of the Hirshhorn this past summer and who hopes to transform the museum into a platform for more global and experimental work (see “Melissa Chiu Named Head of Hirshhorn Museum“). Aquin, whose appointment becomes effective in early 2015, will lead a department of five staff curators and one curator-at-large, Gianni Jetzer, who was appointed by Chiu in late October. (See “Gianni Jetzer Named Hirshhorn Museum’s Curator at Large“).

“Stéphane has the vision and experience to lead the Hirshhorn’s curatorial department at a time when we are expanding our profile nationally and internationally,” said Chiu.”He has worked closely with our diverse roster of artists and conceived and executed monographic and thematic exhibitions. We are fortunate to be able to welcome him to the Hirshhorn.”

Aquin,who has served as curator of contemporary art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art since 1998, co-curated the recent exhibition “Peter Doig: No Foreign Lands” that ran from January 25–May 4, and recorded nearly 100,000 visitors. It was previously on view at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh from August 3–November 3, 2013. He has also curated shows focusing on Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Jean-Paul Riopelle,and Pipilotti Rist,