Osman Can Yerebakan (The Art Newspaper) reports on the new role for Philippe Vergne at the Bass Museum; he is currently the director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art and previously held leadership roles at the Dia Art Foundation and Moca Los Angeles. Vergne will start in his new role on 1 October, just two months before the launch of Art Basel Miami Beach, held two blocks away from the Bass. [The article also mentions that Vergne is a fan of artists such as Puerto Rico-based duo Allora & Calzadilla.]
The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach has appointed Philippe Vergne as the museum’s inaugural artistic director and chief curator. The French-born museum director joins the Miami Beach institution from a seven-year stint as the director at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, where he led the institution’s expansion with its Álvaro Siza Wing, inaugurated in 2024.
“The Bass and Serralves have many similarities, such as both being Art Deco buildings and having extensions designed by Pritzker-winning architects,” Vergne tells The Art Newspaper, referring in the Bass’s case to Pritzker Prize-winning architect Arata Isozaki’s 1995 concept for the institution’s campus in Collins Park.
After decades of executive roles at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Dia Art Foundation in New York and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Vergne says his latest move reflects his current priority, which is to be more active as a curator. “It became clear to me that I reached a moment where I want to prioritise working with artists and communities,” he says.
Vergne’s past curatorial accolades include co-organising the 2006 edition of the Whitney Biennial with Chrissie Iles and curating solo exhibitions of artists including Kara Walker, Yves Klein and Mike Kelley at different institutions.
The moment is also right for Bass, where Vergne will succeed former chief curator James Voorhies. [. . .] Vergne sees ample synchrony between his and Karman Cubiñá’s visions for the Bass. “We are both fans and champions of similar artists,” he says, citing as an example the Puerto Rico-based artist duo Allora & Calzadilla, which is featured in the Bass’s collection and was the subject of an exhibition at the Serralves in 2023. Vergne was also invited to co-edit the catalogue for the Bass’s Haegue Yang exhibition, In the Cone of Uncertainty (2019-20). [. . .]
Vergne will start in his new role on 1 October, just two months before the museum becomes a compulsory art-world destination during Art Basel Miami Beach, held two blocks away each December.
For full article, see https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/04/bass-museum-hires-philippe-vergne-artistic-director-chief-curator
[Photo (detail) of Philippe Vergne above by Joaquim Norte de Sousa.]
Osman Can Yerebakan (The Art Newspaper) reports on the new role for Philippe Vergne at the Bass Museum; he is currently the director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art and previously held leadership roles at the Dia Art Foundation and Moca Los Angeles. Vergne will start in his new role on 1 October, just