Bruce Guenther
Encyclopedia
Since 2000 Bruce Guenther has served as the Chief Curator of the Portland Art Museum
in Portland, Oregon
as well as its curator of contemporary art. Between 2003 and 2005 he oversaw the inauguration of the Jubitz Center for Contemporary Art at the museum and the creation of the Miller Meigs contemporary art series which has exhibited Damien Hirst
, Roxy Paine
, Pierre Huyghe
and Kehinde Wiley
among others. He was also instrumental in Blue Sky Gallery
's purchase of a space on Portland's North park blocks.
In addition to administrative duties, Guenther is responsible for initiating and planning all exhibitions and permanent collection presentations of modern and contemporary art. He is also responsible for soliciting gifts and proposing acquisitions for the Museum’s permanent collection. During his tenure to date, the Museum has acquired significant works by Marcel Duchamp
, Van Gogh, Robert Rauschenberg
, Judy Chicago
, Roxy Paine
, Ruben Nakian, Philip Pearlstein, Roy Lichtenstein
, Manuel Neri
and Kiki Smith
, among others. Guenther also conducts research and writes publications for the collections, Museum-organized exhibitions, and all in-gallery texts.
curatorial intern. He then moved to the Washington State University Museum of Art in Pullman, Washington, as its first curator and later served as the Museum’s director.
In 1979, he was appointed the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum
, where he spent the next nine years directing the modern art program and organized over 45 exhibitions, including the landmark 1986 Jacob Lawrence traveling retrospective. He joined the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
, in 1987, where he served as Chief Curator and organized exhibitions from Latin America and Europe. He also served for a period as Co-Acting Director of the institution. He became the Chief Curator of the Orange County Museum of Art
in Newport Beach, California, in 1991, helping to guide it through a programmatic expansion and remodeling project before joining the Portland Art Museum. In conjunction with his curatorial duties, Guenther was responsible for curatorial vision in the architectural programming for new museum buildings in Seattle, Chicago, and Portland, where he was responsible for all aspects of a new 28000 sq ft (2,601.3 m²). wing for modern and contemporary art in 2005.
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
as well as its curator of contemporary art. Between 2003 and 2005 he oversaw the inauguration of the Jubitz Center for Contemporary Art at the museum and the creation of the Miller Meigs contemporary art series which has exhibited Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, Roxy Paine
Roxy Paine
Roxy Paine is an American artist. He was educated at both the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico and the Pratt Institute in New York....
, Pierre Huyghe
Pierre Huyghe
Pierre Huyghe is a French artist who works in a variety of media from film and video to public interventions. He won the Hugo Boss Prize from the Guggenheim Museum in 2002.-Biography:...
and Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley is a New York-based portrait painter, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of contemporary urban African, African-American, Afro-Brazilian, Indian and Ethiopian-Jewish men in heroic poses.-Early life:...
among others. He was also instrumental in Blue Sky Gallery
Blue Sky Gallery
Blue Sky Gallery is a non-profit exhibition space and archive for photography in Portland, Oregon. In 1975 a group of photographers pooled their resources to start a small gallery...
's purchase of a space on Portland's North park blocks.
In addition to administrative duties, Guenther is responsible for initiating and planning all exhibitions and permanent collection presentations of modern and contemporary art. He is also responsible for soliciting gifts and proposing acquisitions for the Museum’s permanent collection. During his tenure to date, the Museum has acquired significant works by Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
, Van Gogh, Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
, Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is a feminist artist, author, and educator.Chicago has been creating artwork since the mid 1960s. Her earliest forays into the art world coincided with the rise of Minimalism, which she eventually abandoned in favor of art she believed to have greater content and relevance...
, Roxy Paine
Roxy Paine
Roxy Paine is an American artist. He was educated at both the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico and the Pratt Institute in New York....
, Ruben Nakian, Philip Pearlstein, Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
, Manuel Neri
Manuel Neri
Manuel Neri is an American sculptor, painter, and printmaker and a notable member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.- Biography :...
and Kiki Smith
Kiki Smith
Kiki Smith is an American artist classified as a feminist artist, a movement with beginnings in the twentieth century...
, among others. Guenther also conducts research and writes publications for the collections, Museum-organized exhibitions, and all in-gallery texts.
Background
Guenther has more than 30 years of Museum experience, having served as curator or director at five noteworthy institutions. A native Oregonian, Guenther’s museum career began at the Portland Art Museum in the early 1970s as a National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
curatorial intern. He then moved to the Washington State University Museum of Art in Pullman, Washington, as its first curator and later served as the Museum’s director.
In 1979, he was appointed the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...
, where he spent the next nine years directing the modern art program and organized over 45 exhibitions, including the landmark 1986 Jacob Lawrence traveling retrospective. He joined the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
, in 1987, where he served as Chief Curator and organized exhibitions from Latin America and Europe. He also served for a period as Co-Acting Director of the institution. He became the Chief Curator of the Orange County Museum of Art
Orange County Museum of Art
The Orange County Museum of Art is a museum located in Newport Beach, California.The museum's collection comprises more than 3,000 objects, with a concentration on the art of California from the early 20th century to present...
in Newport Beach, California, in 1991, helping to guide it through a programmatic expansion and remodeling project before joining the Portland Art Museum. In conjunction with his curatorial duties, Guenther was responsible for curatorial vision in the architectural programming for new museum buildings in Seattle, Chicago, and Portland, where he was responsible for all aspects of a new 28000 sq ft (2,601.3 m²). wing for modern and contemporary art in 2005.