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Charles Desmarais

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Joseph Desmarais
11th President of San Francisco Art Institute
In office
2011 – November 1, 2015
Preceded byRoy Eisenhardt
Succeeded byGordon Knox
Personal details
Born (1949-04-21) April 21, 1949 (age 75)
United States
EducationUniversity at Buffalo (BA, MA)
OccupationArt critic, museum director, academic administrator

Charles Joseph Desmarais (born April 21, 1949) is an American art critic, museum director, and academic administrator. He was the art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle; and formerly served as president of the San Francisco Art Institute.

Biography

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Charles Joseph Desmarais was born on April 21, 1949, in the United States, and raised in The Bronx in New York City. Desmarais earned a bachelor's and master's degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and was a 1983 participant in the Museum Management Institute (later the Getty Leadership Institute program of the Getty Foundation).[1]

In the 1980s, Desmarais directed the California Museum of Photography at the University of California, Riverside.[2] He was director of the Laguna Art Museum, in Laguna Beach, California from 1988 to 1994. He then served as director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati from 1995 until January 2004.[3] From 2005 to 2011, he was deputy director for art at the Brooklyn Museum, where he oversaw ten curatorial departments, as well as the museum’s education, exhibitions, conservation and library activities.[4]

In 2011, he was appointed president of the San Francisco Art Institute, a position he left on November 1, 2015.[5][6][7]

Since 1985, he has been married to Kitty Morgan, former editor-in-chief of Sunset magazine, and later assistant managing editor at the San Francisco Chronicle.[8][citation needed]

Exhibitions and books by Desmarais

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Desmarais has curated exhibitions on various artists, photographers and architects. His books and exhibition catalogues include:[citation needed]

  • Roger Mertin: Records 1976-78 (1978)
  • Michael Bishop (1979)
  • The Portrait Extended (1980)
  • Why I Got into TV and Other Stories: The Art of Ilene Segalove (1990)
  • Proof: Los Angeles Art and the Photograph, 1960-1980 (1992)
  • Humongolous: Sculpture and Other Works by Tim Hawkinson (1996)
  • Jim Dine Photographs (1999)
  • Stephan Balkenhol (2000)
  • Nothing Compared to This: Ambient, Incidental and New Minimal Tendencies in Current Art (2004)
  • [with Markus Dochantschi] Zaha Hadid: Space for Art (2005)

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Alumni: Desmarais, Charles". Claremont Graduate University.
  2. ^ Curtis, Cathy (1988-06-28). "New Director for Laguna Art Museum". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  3. ^ "Timeline". Contemporary Arts Center. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  4. ^ Sarah Thornton (2 November 2009). Seven Days in the Art World. New York. ISBN 9780393337129. OCLC 489232834.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Bohem, Mike. "Charles Desmarais, former Laguna Art Museum director, will lead San Francisco Art Institute". Los Angeles Times, 5/19/2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  6. ^ Steinhauer, Jillian (2015-09-10). "Why the SF Chronicle's Choice of a New Art Critic Is Disappointing". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  7. ^ "SFAI President Steps Down To Become Chronicle's Chief Critic". Artforum. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  8. ^ "Kitty Morgan to join the San Francisco Chronicle as Assistant Managing Editor". Inside Scoop SF. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  9. ^ "NEA Annual Report 1979" (PDF). NEA. 1979. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  10. ^ "An Obscure Foundation Just Gave $400,000 to Art Journalists—No Strings Attached | artnet News". artnet News. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2017-11-07.