The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Reopens After a $105 Million Renovation
After a five-year overhaul by Selldorf Architects, the museum is reopening with an exhibition of rare works by Niki de Saint Phalle
Art and nature come together in spectacular fashion at the La Jolla, California, campus of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), which is now open after a $105 million renovation and expansion by Selldorf Architects. “Our goal was to clearly convey the museum as welcoming and inclusive, and to connect it more strongly to its beautiful setting,” architect Annabelle Selldorf tells Galerie. “Over the years, the museum has undergone many renovations which we wanted to honor, while at the same time creating a new addition that would unify them coherently with a new stronger presence.”
Closed since 2017, the museum quadrupled its gallery square footage. “After eight decades of renovations, additions, and subtractions, our flagship building is, at last, scaled to showcase the nearly 5,000 works the museum has collected over the past decades, alongside ambitious new installations on a scale never before possible,” says Kathryn Kanjo, director and CEO of MCASD.
Inaugurating the space will be an exhibition of rare works by Niki de Saint Phalle. On view through July 17, “Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s” explores this pivotal period in the artist’s career during which time she produced such notable series as “Tirs” and “Nanas,” the colorful, voluptuous female forms iconic to her oeuvre. Later this year, the institution mounts an extensive retrospective of Alexis Smith, on view September 17 through February 5, 2023, after which MCASD will present a major survey of the work of Conceptual artist Celia Alvarez Muñoz.
“As one of the only contemporary art museums located by the border, we’ve made it a priority to acquire and showcase works by artists from the border area,” says Kanjo. “It allows our collection to act as a hinge to the region’s complex cultural and economic exchanges.”
See images of the spectacular museum below.
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2022 Spring Issue under the headline “In Full View.” Subscribe to the magazine.