Michael Darling James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator

Michael Darling is the James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where he recently organized Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, which was the highest-attended exhibition in the MCA's 50-year history. Other recent projects include the Chicago presentation of David Bowie Is; Riot Grrrls; Isa Genzken: Retrospective; Anne Collier; Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: Bivouac; Theaster Gates: 13th Ballad; IAIN BAXTER&: Works 1958–2011; Ron Terada: Being There; and David Hartt: Stray Light. Previously, Darling was the Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum and Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Darling received his BA in art history from Stanford University and his MA and PhD in art and architectural history from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Darling frequently serves as a panelist, lecturer, and guest curator on contemporary art and architecture.