Finally, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is going to make sense, if all goes according to plan. Like a new owner in an old home, chief curator Michael Darling is overseeing a philosophical gut rehab whose ultimate goal is clarity.
"As an outsider, I wasn't 100 percent sure what the MCA stood for," says Darling, who was hired last summer in what has since been acknowledged as the catalyst for a nearly complete overhaul of the curatorial department. "I didn't have a great sense of what was in the collection, what defined the museum, etc. This (re-imagining) is a way to tie the ID of the museum to its collection and also have a clearer message about the exhibitions that we do and the types of shows that we're doing, building these competencies and reputations with different through-lines."
Needless to say, this kind of change doesn't happen overnight.
Darling's vision began last summer, within weeks of when he landed on his new turf. During a lengthy interview in August at the MCA's cafe, the museum building came up, along with its reputation as an overpowering venue whose overscaled walls dwarf most of the exhibitions it has housed.
Darling, at the time, was careful in his word choice. "I think (rethinking the layout) would help to streamline things," he said. "I think it would help to build our identity in a clear way. I'm getting to understand the building and the collection, and the curators are trying to start to understand some of those patterns that we can create for people."
Nearly 12 months later, Darling's curatorial clarity is beginning to manifest itself physically, most immediately in the museum's front yard: A massive yet playful four-piece installation by Hong Kong-born sculptor Mark Handforth will live on the front plaza beginning July 8 (pending weather) through autumn. By then, every last corner of the building at 220 E. Chicago Ave. will have been re-imagined, perhaps for the first time in its 15-year history, with the museum's permanent collection in mind.
It's a comprehensive overhaul that doesn't end with the property. Over the course of the next year, the MCA will adopt revamped graphic and digital identities, ultimately including a searchable online archive similar to what large institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago have.
It's due time, according to director Madeleine Grynsztejn.
"The last time the MCA engaged a major change to its design identity was 15 years ago with the opening of the new building," Grynsztejn wrote last week via email from Italy, where she was attending the Venice Biennale. "It was right for its time, and as we've changed and evolved, we again need to create a new visual identity for the MCA Chicago that fits with our current and future vision."
The plan is to roll out physical changes gallery by gallery, floor-by-floor, like a progressive supper, allowing visitors to digest one newly rebranded area at a time.