L.A. Museum Chief Defends His Record and Eli Broad’s Role

Jeffrey Deitch, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, broke his silence over the controversy that has engulfed the institution in recent weeks, defending his stewardship of the museum in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Deitch has come under fire over the ouster last month of Paul Schimmel, longtime chief curator of the museum commonly known as MOCA. All four artists who served on the institution’s board have resigned, and other longtime supporters have questioned the museum’s direction under the former New York art dealer, who has incorporated celebrity-driven and pop-culture shows into MOCA programming.

Mr. Deitch decline to comment on Mr. Schimmel’s departure but said the museum’s “core board” supports its program’s direction. He also dismissed critics’ suggestions that MOCA is increasingly controlled by billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, its chief patron, and that Mr. Broad is maneuvering to be in a position to take control of MOCA if it founders. Mr. Broad is building a museum to house his own vast art collection across the street. It is scheduled to open in 2014

“Eli has been an absolutely great patron with us,” Mr. Deitch said. “I know that there’s this conspiracy theory. It doesn’t make any sense.”

In an analysis of MOCA’s problems, New York Times art critic Roberta Smith, who defended Mr. Deitch’s controversial hiring in 2010, says his tenure “has so far been a disappointment” and questioned Mr. Broad’s prominent role at the museum.