40 Years New

About Lisa Phillips

Lisa Phillips became the director of the New Museum in April 1999. Over the course of her tenure the museum has grown into a major international cultural destination and has presented critically acclaimed exhibitions on a range of artists including Paul McCarthy Elizabeth Peyton Chris Burden and Rosemarie Trockel. Prior to her role at the New Museum Phillips was a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She has authored over twenty publications and has lectured extensively around the world.The New Museum's mission is: New Art New Ideas. Founded in 1977 by curator Marcia Tucker with a bold vision of presenting contemporary culture in a critical and scholarly context the institution has been a leader among contemporary art museums and is among the most respected internationally for its risk-taking curatorial programme and its focus on emerging and under-recognized artists. Under Lisa Phillips's leadership an expanded vision for the institution was formed - one that included collaborative partnerships groundbreaking platforms for digital art and the construction of the New Museum's first dedicated building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects SANAA. Over four million visitors have attended events in this landmark building. The New Museum's investment in expanding what a museum is and can be has included projects such IdeasCity - a cultural call that supports the creative sectors investment in civic issues and NEW INC - the first Museum-led incubator supporting entrepreneurs at the intersection of art-design-technology.