Marcia Tucker

Marcia Tucker

Marcia Tucker
Born (1940-04-11)April 11, 1940
Brooklyn, New York, US
Died October 17, 2006(2006-10-17) (aged 66)
Santa Barbara, California, US
Other names Marcia Silverman
Occupation Curator and Art Historian

Marcia Tucker (born Marcia Silverman; April 11, 1940 – October 17, 2006)[1] was an American art historian, art critic and curator. In 1977 she founded the New Museum of Contemporary Art, a museum dedicated to innovative art and artistic practice in New York City, which she ran as the director until 1999.[1]

Early life and education

Marcia Tucker was born on April 11, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York.[2] In 1961 she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Connecticut College, where she studied theatre and art. Tucker spent her junior year studying at the École du Louvre, in Paris.[1] Her first job was as a secretary of the Museum of Modern Art; however, she soon quit after being asked to sharpen too many pencils.[1]

Career

In 1969, Tucker became the Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Whitney Museum of American Art.[1] She held this position until 1977 and she organized major exhibitions of the work of Bruce Nauman, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Richard Tuttle, and Jack Tworkov among others.[1] In 1975, Tucker organized a Richard Tuttle exhibition; however, the show was trounced by critics, leading to her dismissal.[3] On January 1, 1977, at the age of 37, Tucker founded The New Museum.[4] Tucker wanted the New Museum to exhibit living artists, to have knowledgeable guards, and to throw out its permanent collection of art every ten years to remain young.[1] At the New Museum, Tucker organized major exhibitions including Bad Painting (1978), The Time of Our Lives (1999), A Labor of Love (1996), and Bad Girls (1994), and was co-curator of a retrospective exhibition by the Catalan artist Perejaume at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona in 1999. She was the series editor of Documentary Sources in Contemporary Art, five books of theory and criticism published by the New Museum.[1] In 1983, she was chosen as the U.S. Commissioner for the 1984 41st Venice Biennale.[5] Tucker's exhibition was entitled Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained and was organized with Ned Rifkin and Lynn Gumpert.[5] The exhibition included twenty-four American artists, including Eric Fischl, David True, and Richard Bosman.[5]

In a 1998 lecture, Tucker said the museum, “like a handful of other contemporary art venues in the United States, is a ‘laboratory’ organization not only by virtue of the kind of work we show, but because we try to look critically at museum practice, especially our own, questioning our own premises and methods regularly.” (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, April 16, 1998; “The Contemporary Art Museum as a Site of Innovation and Resistance”). In 1999, Tucker stepped down from directing the museum and Lisa Phillips was appointed as the new director.[4] In 2004 she moved to Santa Barbara, California.[2]

From 1999 to 2006 Tucker worked as a free-lance art critic, writer, and lecturer. She taught at Cornell University, Colgate University, and The Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies. While living in Santa Barbara, California, she was a critic in residence in the Fine Arts Department and Graduate Studies: Fine Arts at Otis College of Art and Design from 2005-2006. She wrote for The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Art in America, Art Forum, and ARTnews, among others. Her memoir, A Short Life of Trouble, which describes a vital period in American art from the mid-1960s on, including friendships and encounters with such artists as Marcel Duchamp, James Rosenquist, Lee Krasner, Andy Warhol, Joan Mitchell, and Bruce Nauman, was released in 2008.

Catalogues and publications

Death

Tucker died aged 66 on October 17, 2006 in Santa Barbara, California.[2]

Recognition

She received the Skowhegan Governors Award for Lifetime Service to the Arts (1988), was the 1999 recipient of the Bard College Award for Curatorial Achievement, and the Art Table Award for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts in 2000. She was also awarded three Yaddo fellowships in 2003, ’04, and ’05.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Smith, Roberta. Tucker obituary "Marcia Tucker - Obituary", The New York Times (October 19, 2006), Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Rourke, Mary. "Obituaries - Marcia Tucker", Los Angeles Times, Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Saltz, Jerry. The Village Voice [New York] 01 Nov 2006: 60.
  4. 1 2 "History: New Museum", New Museum, Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Brenson, Michael. "Art People", The New York Times, Retrieved 23 November 2014.

Bibliography

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