High-wattage art visionary

Chris Dercon, art historian, documentary filmmaker & cultural producer, studied art history, theatre & the theory of cinema at Leiden University & VU Amsterdam. He began his career in an art gallery in Ghent & at STUK Leuven. At the same time, he became an art critic for the De Standaard newspaper. 

He subsequently held several prestigious positions including Artistic Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art PS1 (New York), the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam), the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam) & the Haus der Kunst (Munich). From 2011 to 2016, Chris was director of the Tate Modern. He was head of Berlin’s experimental Volksbühne theatre until 2018.

In his career as an art director, Chris curated a number of major exhibitions. During his time in London, he put his stamp on Tate Modern & made a real success of his time there.

Chris is a flamboyant character with a knack for presenting popular exhibitions that also please artworld academics. Often contested, but always at the very heart of it all, Chris’ visionary, intellectual, democratic & high-wattage style is genuinely inspirational.