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Arts Feb 01, 2023
Artwork by Kenturah Davis. | Photo courtesy of Jeff McLane/MOCA.
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The Museum of Contemporary Art added 123 works by 68 artists to its collection in 2022, which now numbers nearly 8,000 artworks, museum officials announced Tuesday.
The acquisitions reflect a diverse group of artists, including many from Los Angeles.
“MOCA’s collection is widely renowned for good reason. For more than 40 years, the museum has cared for and grown one of the most singular, ambitious, and fearless collections of contemporary art in the world,” said Johanna Burton, The Maurice Marciano Director of MOCA.
“Thanks to our talented curators and generous supporters, we have acquired a spectacular group of works over the last twelve months, many of them challenging, and made by artists of diverse backgrounds,” Burton added. “In keeping with our DEI&A goals, I’m proud that these acquisitions reflect our commitment to supporting BIPOC, women, and gender-non-conforming artists, and that MOCA has the great privilege of caring for and sharing these works with our community and the world.”
The additions included John Valadez’s East Los Angeles Urban Portrait Portfolio, a series of 20 photographs from 1978, expanding MOCA’s representation of work by Chicano and Latinx artists; Joey Terrill’s large-scale collage My First Crush from 1993; and Bombs, 1983, an altar-piece-like arrangement of 24 painted panels by longtime Los Angeles artist Ben Sakoguchi, which tells a story of nuclear war and its impact on Japanese life.
“At MOCA, our collection reflects our identity as an internationally-minded institution that is rooted in the tremendously important Los Angeles artistic community,” Clara Kim, MOCA chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, said in a statement. “These recently acquired works speak to our DNA as a forward-thinking museum that represents and supports artists of our time.”
Another focus of MOCA’s 2022 acquisitions was large-scale sculpture and installation, including major works by Rachel Harrison, Nairy Baghramian and Hadi Fallahpisheh.
MOCA’s 2022 acquisitions comprise purchases made by the museum and gifts accepted from donors. Last year, 22 works were purchased with funds raised from the museum’s three acquisition committees.
The full list of artists whose work MOCA acquired in 2022 includes: Doug Aitken, Kelly Akashi, David Altmejd, Richard Artschwager, Nairy Baghramian, John Baldessari, Gina Beavers, María Berrío, Andrea Bowers, Kenturah Davis, John Duff, Carroll Dunham, Shepard Fairey, Hadi Fallahpisheh, Urs Fischer, Derek Fordjour, Christina Forrer, Jessie Homer French, Dominique Fung, Jack Goldstein, Sayre Gomez, Ken Gonzales-Day, Jennifer Guidi, Rachel Harrison, Naotaka Hiro, Kahlil Robert Irving, Arthur Jafa, Kurt Kauper, Mike Kelley, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Constance Mallinson, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Mundo Meza, Jesse Mockrin, Dave Muller, Ray Navarro and Zoe Leonard, Eva Nielsen, Kayode Ojo, Catherine Opie, Gabriel Orozco, Trevor Paglen, Roxy Paine, Esteban Ramón Pérez, Raymond Pettibon, Lauren Quin, David Rabinowich, David Robbins, Sterling Ruby, Ben Sakoguchi, Wilhelm Sasnal, Collier Schorr, Kerry Schuss, Jim Shaw, Cindy Sherman, Becky Suss, Joey Terrill, Frank Thiel, Wolfgang Tillmans, Kaari Upson, John Valadez, James Welling, Kandis Williams, Carmen Winant, Rosha Yaghmai, Nancy Youdelman, and Andrea Zittel.
