After unprecedented closures, a broken leg and stranded artworks last year, the National Gallery of Australia’s Nick Mitzevich is ready to embrace controversy.
Nick Mitzevich, director of the National Gallery of Australia, became the first director to wrap the $6.2 billion national collection in black shrouds, closing big exhibitions and turning the public away for more than 70 days last year. Alex Ellinghausen
Rising out of the Parisian landscape like a spaceship, the Centre Pompidou was a scandal and a sensation. Its inside-out design was an affront to French society – one local was so outraged, she took to the building’s creator with an umbrella in the street.
For Nick Mitzevich, the 4th arrondissement landmark is a metaphor for the art world at large. The National Gallery of Australia boss sees its colourful utilities and exposed engineering as a form of radical transparency, perfect for cultural institutions in the 21st century.
Tom McIlroyCanberra Bureau ChiefTom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at thomas.mcilroy@afr.com
