Art Insight #9: Michael Govan

Q. Throughout your career, you have accumulated experience in planning and administration that provides you a deeper and broader insight than most. What do you see as the single greatest issue of our age?

The big issue of our age is globalization. I would say Los Angeles is the embodiment of globalism, as it is a comprehensive collection of countless cultures. Art plays an important role for all these heterogeneous cultures to coexist. Imagine a future where every individual identity will need to cooperate with one another. It is directly relevant to our survival. Art museums and galleries capture each individual identity through art, making them a necessary and appropriate forum for comparing and contrasting the diverse identities while seeking knowledge and new possibilities. So in that sense, I think the most important role of art in the future is to maintain individual identities while bringing people together. “Globalization” is very relevant in the present, and will continue to be relevant as we move forward in the next several years.‬‬‬

Q. It seems that the future is a topic of particular interest to you. As a principle-driven person unafraid of change, what significance does that subject carry?

I like to describe the future in reference to the concept of “uncertainty.” Why even bother getting out of bed in the morning, if the future was set in stone? The future is the future because it is unpredictable, and it takes us unaware. That uncertainty, however, is not something to be anxious about. It’s just an aspect of open-endedness. In other words, it is up to us to create and make something of our future. The future is up to us. Whether our place of work is at the art museum, or is in supporting an artist in some capacity, or developing a technology, or even in distribution and logistics, we each have a role in creating the future. That is why I like “uncertain” futures. In fact, there is a certain appeal that the inherent uncertainty of future holds. Under the going concern that the future of humanity will be sustained without destruction, I have absolute faith in mankind’s ability to develop and maintain a sustainable environment. People usually expect certain things to transpire in their future. But the fact remains that whatever happens to us is in some way a result of our own doing.‬‬‬

Michael Govan was born in Washington, D.C. in 1963. He graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Art History and served as Acting Curator of the Williams College Museum of Art. In 1986, he organized exhibitions on Picasso and Rembrandt. Later, he crossed the Atlantic to Italy to study Renaissance art. Upon returning, he continued to study art at the University of California, San Diego, but dropped out in 1988 when he was asked to serve as the Deputy Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He accepted and served in the position until 1994. From 1994 to 2006, Govan was the President and Director of the Dia Art Foundation, where he spearheaded the creation of the Dia: Beacon, a museum in New York’s Hudson Valley that houses the foundation’s vast collection of art from the 1960s to present day. Over the decade of Govan’s tenure, Dia’s collection nearly doubled in size. In 2006, he joined the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as Chief Executive Officer and Wallis Annenberg Director. He is considered responsible for revitalizing LACMA and bringing the museum to cultural prominence in Los Angeles. Displaying profound interest in contemporary installations, Govan has sponsored groundbreaking artists, including Chris Burden and Michael Heizer.