Brian Kennedy (gallery director)
Encyclopedia
Brian Kennedy is the Director of the Toledo Museum of Art
. He was the Director of the Hood Museum of Art from 2005 to 2010, and the National Gallery of Australia
(Canberra
) from 1997-2004. Kennedy was born in Dublin and attended Clonkeen College
. He received B.A. (1982), M.A. (1985) and Ph.D (1989) degrees from UC-Dublin, where he studied both art history and history.
(1982), the European Commission
, Brussels
(1983), and in Ireland at the Chester Beatty Library
(1983–85), Government Publications Office (1985–86), and Department of Finance
(1986–89). He married Mary Fiona Carlin in 1988.
He was Assistant Director at the National Gallery of Ireland
in Dublin from 1989 to 1997. He was Chair of the Irish Association of Art Historians from 1996-97, and of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors from 2001-03, of whose association he is a member. In September 1997 he became Director of the National Gallery of Australia
.
, arranged for several major shows of Australian art abroad, increased the number of exhibitions at the museum itself and oversaw the development of an extensive multi-media site. Although he oversaw several years of the museum's highest ever annual visitation, he discontinued the emphasis of his predecessor, Betty Churcher
, on showing "blockbuster" exhibitions.
During his directorship, the NGA gained government support for improving the building and significant private donations and corporate sponsorship. Private funding supported many notable acquisitions including David Hockney
's A Bigger Grand Canyon in 1999, and Lucian Freud
's After Cézanne in 2001. Kennedy built on the established collections at the museum by acquiring the Holmgren-Spertus collection of Indonesian textiles; the Kenneth Tyler collection of editioned prints, screens, multiples and unique proofs; and the Australian Print Workshop Archive. He also introduced free admission to the gallery, except to major exhibitions. He was also notable for campaigning for the construction of a new "front" entrance to the Gallery, facing King Edward Terrace, which was completed in 2010.
Kennedy's cancellation of the "Sensation exhibition
" (scheduled at the NGA from June 2, 2000 to August 13, 2000) was controversial, and seen by some as censorship. The exhibition was created by the Young British Artists
of the Saatchi Gallery
and attracted large attendances in London and Brooklyn. Its most controversial work was Chris Ofili
's The Holy Virgin Mary
, a painting which used elephant dung and was accused of being blasphemous. The then-mayor of New York
, Rudolph Giuliani, campaigned against the exhibition, claiming it was "Catholic-bashing" and an "aggressive, vicious, disgusting attack on religion." In November 1999, Kennedy cancelled the exhibition and stated that the events in New York had "obscured discussion of the artistic merit of the works of art". He has said that it "was the toughest decision of my professional life, so far."
Kennedy was also repeatedly questioned about the NGA's twenty year-old air-conditioning system. The air-conditioning was finally renovated in 2003. Kennedy announced in 2002 that he would not seek extension of his contract beyond 2004, accepting a seven-year term as had his two predecessors.
Toledo Museum of Art
The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio, United States. The museum was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901, and moved to its present location, a Greek revival building designed by Edward B....
. He was the Director of the Hood Museum of Art from 2005 to 2010, and the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
(Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
) from 1997-2004. Kennedy was born in Dublin and attended Clonkeen College
Clonkeen College
Clonkeen College is a Christian Brothers secondary school for boys in south Dublin, which opened in 1965. Clonkeen College has approximately 550 students and 30 staff. Dom Twomey has been the principal since 2008...
. He received B.A. (1982), M.A. (1985) and Ph.D (1989) degrees from UC-Dublin, where he studied both art history and history.
Ireland and Australia
He worked in the Irish Department of EducationDepartment of Education and Science (Ireland)
The Department of Education and Skills is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Education and Skills who is assisted by two Ministers of State.-Departmental team:...
(1982), the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(1983), and in Ireland at the Chester Beatty Library
Chester Beatty Library
The Chester Beatty Library was established in Dublin, Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present library, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on February 7, 2000, the 125th anniversary of Sir Alfred's birth and was named European Museum...
(1983–85), Government Publications Office (1985–86), and Department of Finance
Department of Finance (Ireland)
The Department of Finance is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Finance and is assisted by one Minister of State....
(1986–89). He married Mary Fiona Carlin in 1988.
He was Assistant Director at the National Gallery of Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
in Dublin from 1989 to 1997. He was Chair of the Irish Association of Art Historians from 1996-97, and of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors from 2001-03, of whose association he is a member. In September 1997 he became Director of the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
.
National Gallery of Australia (NGA)
Kennedy expanded the traveling exhibitions and loans program throughout AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, arranged for several major shows of Australian art abroad, increased the number of exhibitions at the museum itself and oversaw the development of an extensive multi-media site. Although he oversaw several years of the museum's highest ever annual visitation, he discontinued the emphasis of his predecessor, Betty Churcher
Betty Churcher
Betty Ann Churcher, AO is best known as director of the National Gallery of Australia from 1990 to 1997. She was also a painter in her own right earlier in her life. She won a travelling scholarship to Europe and attended the London Royal College of Art...
, on showing "blockbuster" exhibitions.
During his directorship, the NGA gained government support for improving the building and significant private donations and corporate sponsorship. Private funding supported many notable acquisitions including David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
's A Bigger Grand Canyon in 1999, and Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
's After Cézanne in 2001. Kennedy built on the established collections at the museum by acquiring the Holmgren-Spertus collection of Indonesian textiles; the Kenneth Tyler collection of editioned prints, screens, multiples and unique proofs; and the Australian Print Workshop Archive. He also introduced free admission to the gallery, except to major exhibitions. He was also notable for campaigning for the construction of a new "front" entrance to the Gallery, facing King Edward Terrace, which was completed in 2010.
Kennedy's cancellation of the "Sensation exhibition
Sensation exhibition
Sensation was an exhibition of the collection of contemporary art owned by Charles Saatchi, including many works by Young British Artists, which first took place 18 September – 28 December 1997 at the Royal Academy of Art in London and later toured to Berlin and New York...
" (scheduled at the NGA from June 2, 2000 to August 13, 2000) was controversial, and seen by some as censorship. The exhibition was created by the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
of the Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...
and attracted large attendances in London and Brooklyn. Its most controversial work was Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...
's The Holy Virgin Mary
The Holy Virgin Mary
The Holy Virgin Mary is a painting created by Chris Ofili in 1996. It was one of the works included in the Sensation exhibition in London, Berlin and New York in 1997–2000...
, a painting which used elephant dung and was accused of being blasphemous. The then-mayor of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Rudolph Giuliani, campaigned against the exhibition, claiming it was "Catholic-bashing" and an "aggressive, vicious, disgusting attack on religion." In November 1999, Kennedy cancelled the exhibition and stated that the events in New York had "obscured discussion of the artistic merit of the works of art". He has said that it "was the toughest decision of my professional life, so far."
Kennedy was also repeatedly questioned about the NGA's twenty year-old air-conditioning system. The air-conditioning was finally renovated in 2003. Kennedy announced in 2002 that he would not seek extension of his contract beyond 2004, accepting a seven-year term as had his two predecessors.
United States
He became Director of the Hood Museum of Art in July 2005. In October 2010 he became Director of the Toledo Museum of Art.Hood Museum of Art
Kennedy has implemented a series of large and small-scale exhibitions and publications to bring greater public attention to the museum's remarkable collections of the arts of America, Europe, African, Papua New Guinea and the Polar regions. At 70,000 objects, the Hood has one of the largest collections on any American college of university campus. The exhibition, Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body, toured several US venues. Kennedy has increased campus curricular use of works of art, with thousands of objects pulled from storage for classes annually. Numerous acquisitions have been made with the museum's generous endowments, and he has curated several exhibitions: including Wenda Gu: Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting Tang Dynasty Poetry and Sean Scully: The Art of the Stripe.Publications
Kennedy has written and edited a number of books on art, including:- Alfred Chester BeattyAlfred Chester BeattySir Alfred Chester Beatty Seanad 1985: "Chester Beatty died at the Princess Grace Clinic, Monte Carlo, on 19 January 1968, [...]" . was a mining magnate and millionaire, often called the "King of Copper". U.S.-born, he was naturalised British in 1933, and made an honorary citizen of Ireland in 1957...
and Ireland 1950-1968: A study in cultural politics, Glendale Press (1988), ISBN 978-0-907606-49-9 - Dreams and responsibilities: The state and arts in independent Ireland, Arts Council of IrelandArts Council of IrelandThe Arts Council of Ireland was founded in 1951 by the Government of Ireland to encourage interest in Irish art and channel to funding from the state to Irish artists and arts organisations...
(1990), ISBN 978-0-906627-32-7 - Jack B Yeats: Jack Butler YeatsJack Butler YeatsJohn "Jack" Butler Yeats was an Irish artist. His early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pictures are simple lyrical depictions of landscapes and figures, predominantly from the west of Ireland—especially of his boyhood home of...
, 1871-1957 (Lives of Irish Artists), Unipub (October 1991), ISBN 978-0-948524-24-0 - The Anatomy Lesson: Art and Medicine (with Davis Coakley), National Gallery of IrelandNational Gallery of IrelandThe National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
(January 1992), ISBN 978-0-903162-65-4 - Ireland: Art into History (with Raymond Gillespie), Roberts Rinehart Publishers (1994), ISBN 978-1-570-98-055-5
- Irish Painting, Roberts Rinehart Publishers (November 1997), ISBN 978-1-86059-059-7
- Sean Scully: The Art of the Stripe, Hood Museum of ArtHood Museum of ArtThe Hood Museum of Art is a museum in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Dating back to 1772, the museum is owned and operated by Dartmouth College and is connected to the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The current building, designed by Charles Willard Moore and Chad Flloyd, opened in the fall of 1985. It...
(October 2008), ISBN 978-0-944722-34-2