Former MOCA Chief Executive Calls for Deitch\'s Removal

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

A month into a roiling controversy over the direction of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, a former chief executive officer of the museum has called for the removal of its current director, Jeffrey Deitch, the Los Angeles Times reported. Charles E. Young, who ran the museum from 2008 to 2010 and before that served as chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles and president of the University of Florida, made his argument in an email to Eli Broad, the museum's largest donor and most influential board member, that was obtained by the paper.

The museum's current round of troubles began in June with the resignation under pressure of its longtime chief curator, Paul Schimmel, who was known to have a difficult relationship with Mr. Deitch, a former New York gallery owner. Mr. Schimmel's departure was followed by the resignation of four prominent artists from the board: John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger and Ed Ruscha. In his email to Mr. Broad, as quoted in the Times, Mr. Young wrote of Mr. Deitch, “I hope that the four-alarm fire now enveloping MOCA has at least given you pause for thought about his appointment and your continued attempts to try to save him for a job for which many (including myself) believe he is unqualified.” He added, “The resignation of dedicated, long-term trustees, and especially four highly respected artists of international acclaim should bother you, David [Johnson], Maria [Bell] and the other continuing members of the Board. The question is ‘What is now to be done?'”

“I will do anything I can to try to right the MOCA ship,” Mr. Young concluded, “but nothing will work, in my mind, without a new Captain/Director.”