Mr Pinault’s director returns to the Walker

Philippe Vergne, senior curator at the Walker Art Center until May this year, when he left to become director of François Pinault’s foundation for contemporary art, has now returned to the US institution as deputy director and chief curator. Mr Vergne said he was looking forward to directing Mr Pinault’s museum on the Ile Seguin in Paris but had reluctantly decided not to continue his work for the foundation at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. “The mission of the institution, the scale, and the location were different in Venice”, he said. Mr Vergne assumes his position at the Walker next month when he opens a retrospective of work by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping (16 October-15 January 2006). Meanwhile, he will continue to work with Whitney Museum curator Chrissie Iles as guest co-curator of the 2006 Whitney Biennial which opens next March.