Marc Mayer

Last updated

Marc Mayer
CM
Born1956 (1956)
NationalityCanadian
Known for curator, administrator

Marc Daniel Mayer CM [1] (born 1956) is a Canadian arts manager and curator. He was formerly the strategic adviser at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto. [2]

Contents

Early life

Mayer was born and raised in a Franco-Ontarian [3] family in Sudbury, Ontario. Fully bilingual, he is also proficient in German and Italian. His mother, Madeleine, worked as a legal secretary and his father, Gilbert, worked in advertising sales for local television and radio stations. He ran as a Liberal candidate in the Nickel Belt in the 1974 federal election, and recorded comedic commentaries for CKSO-TV under the pseudonym "Marcel Mucker". [4] Mayer's interest in art was encouraged by his uncle Ré o who operated a small gallery in the basement of an army and navy store and was a hobbyist painter.

He began his university studies in the history department at Carleton University. He later transferred to McGill University. [3] where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Art History.

Career

Mayer began his career in 1986 when he was named assistant to the Director and later assistant director of the 49th Parallel Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art in New York (1986-1990). [5] He was Head of Visual Arts with the Cultural Services of the Canadian Embassy and a correspondent for the New York periodical Rizzoli’s The Journal of Art in Paris (1990-1993). Afterwards, he served as the curator of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York (1994-1998). From 2001 to 2004, he served as the deputy director at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and then as director of The Power Plant in Toronto (1998–2001). [3] From 2004-2008, he served as director of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (2004-2008). [5]

Beginning in 2008, Mayer served as director and chief executive officer of the National Gallery of Canada. He fulfilled two five-year terms as director, and completed his mandate on January 18, 2019. [6] During his tenure as director and CEO, he helped with many large-scale acquisitions such as James Hart's outdoor sculpture, The Three Watchmen and other works which he sited on Nepean Point hoping to begin a "precinct of beauty" in the capital, [7] as well as co-curating the Jack Bush exhibition (2014), and overseeing numerous projects including the creation of the Canadian Photography Institute. He worked to increase the recognition of indigenous work and oversaw the opening of the Canadian and Indigenous Galleries in June 2017. Also that year, Mayer published Art in Canada, a book that celebrated Canadian and Canadian Indigenous artists. It was released to coincide with Canada's sesquicentennial. The book, designed by Paprika, won third prize in the Pictorial category for the 36th annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada (2017). [8]

In 2020 he appeared as a judge on Landscape Artist of the Year Canada . [9]

Mayer was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022, "for his contributions to fine art as an administrator and curator, both in Canada and worldwide." [1]

In 2023, he was appointed director of Arsenal Contemporary, New York, a private gallery founded in Montreal to promote Canadian contemporary art. [10]

Controversy

Mayer`s final year at the National Gallery of Canada was overshadowed by controversy - the cancelled sale of a Marc Chagall painting, The Eiffel Tower (1929) which the National Gallery wanted to sell to buy a Jacques-Louis David painting, Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment (1779) owned by a Quebec City church. However, the Quebec government closed down the idea since two Quebec museums said they wanted to buy the David. For now, it is on exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. [11]

Personal life

Mayer lives on a farm in Delaware County, New York. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Order of Canada appointees – December 2022". The Governor General of Canada. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "The art world is failing to foster and manage creative talent" . Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sudbury native tapped for top post at National Gallery" Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine , Ottawa Citizen , November 21, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Modern Man", Toronto Life , November 2000.
  5. 1 2 Milroy, Sarah (9 December 2008). "Marc Mayer confirmed as NGC director". The Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail, 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "National Gallery of Canada Bids Farewell to Director and CEO Marc Mayer", National Gallery of Canada Press Release, January 15, 2019.
  7. ↑ Stauble, Katherine. "Telling Our Whole Story: Interview with Marc Mayer". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada, January 15, 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  8. ↑ 2017 Award Winners Announced.
  9. ↑ Dana Gee, "Top British landscape TV hit gets a fresh coat of Canadian paint". Vancouver Sun , February 13, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Article". www.gallerieswest.ca. Galleries West Magazine. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "National Gallery Pays Tribute to Departing Director". The Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail, Dec. 11, 2018, A16. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Modern Art Explained, its Secrets Revealed: a talk by Marc Mayer". moca.ca. MOCA, Toronto, 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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