Longevity and Collections

2010s Collection Curatorial Exhibitions Staff

Omar Kholeif talks about the importance of enduring collections.

The collection at the MCA is something that is very important to me because I think a collection is what remains after an exhibition ends, and even more so than a publication, because publications sell out but collections form the basis of an institution. And when I put together collection exhibitions, what really is important to me is how these particular pieces came into the collection and what that said about a particular moment in history. And some of the things that surprised me were, for example, stumbling across the entire portfolio of Larry Clark's Kids series and realizing that that had never been shown before, and that became the foundation and a basis for a show that I curated here called Eternal Youth.

Larry Clark, Untitled (KIDS), 1995. Chromogenic development print; 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift from The Howard and Donna Stone Collection, 2002.16.1. Photo: Michal Raz-Russo, © MCA Chicago.

Larry Clark, Untitled (KIDS), 1995. Chromogenic development print; 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift from The Howard and Donna Stone Collection, 2002.16.1. Photo: Michal Raz-Russo, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Eternal Youth, MCA Chicago, Mar 11–Jul 23, 2017. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Eternal Youth, MCA Chicago, Mar 11–Jul 23, 2017. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

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