Nick Mitzevich

Nick Mitzevich (born 1970) is the director of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra, a position he has occupied since July 2018. From 2010 until his appointment to the NGA in April 2018, he was director of the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide.

Early life and education Nick Mitzevich was born in 1970. He is the son of Chrisoula, of Greek heritage, and Macedonian father Nick Mitzevich. Nick Jr is the eldest and only son, with three younger sisters, who all grew up on their parents' small farm outside Cessnock, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. He says that his parents insisted that their children "do something for a worthy cause", but also "let us follow our passions". He was a shy, introverted child. He has said that his early years as a "farmer's apprentice" to his parents helped to shape his life.

His parents had no connection to art, but two things led the young Nick Mitzevich to his current occupation: his mother bought him a copy of Robert Hughes' book of his television series The Shock of the New when he was 15; and a few years later, a school excursion took him to a large exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, called Gold of the Pharaohs, that made a big impression on him.

Career

Mitzevich began his career as a fine arts lecturer at the University of Newcastle. In 1999, he was offered a job as curator on a short-term contract at the NGA, but decided to turn it down and returned to the university. He was appointed director of the University of Queensland Art Museum a position he held for three years. He succeeded Christopher Menz, who left after five years in the role. Mitzevich remained in the role for eight years. During this time, he oversaw acquisitions including the digital projection of an AES+F video work onto the gallery's façade during the Adelaide Fringe in 2012, and acquiring 16 paintings from a single exhibition by Ben Quilty on the 130th anniversary of AGSA. AGSA also acquired and exhibited We Are All Flesh, an epoxy resin sculpture of two headless horses by Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, suspended from the ceiling of the gallery. As Director of AGSA, Mitzevich favoured the display of contemporary works in close proximity to colonial-era acquisitions. His achievements included the purchase of Camille Pissarro's Prairie à Eragny, with its million price raised entirely from donations. He also oversaw a major internal refurbishment of the gallery, introduced the Indigenous art festival Tarnanthi. He was the first gallery director in Australia to implement a provenance project, which investigates old objects which were acquired without historical checks.

Mitzevich departed from his position in April 2018, after being appointed as the NGA's sixth director from 2 July that year. He had particularly wanted to secure funding for a new gallery, Adelaide Contemporary, before a state election, before departing, and had not put in an application before the closing date. He was the unanimous choice of the selection panel. was bought by the gallery as a permanent installation on its forecourt as a tribute and farewell "gift" for Mitzevich in April 2018. He said "The work is symbolic of what I tried to do here, and that's why it's perfect".

2018: NGA On the day of starting work at the National Gallery of Australia on 2 July 2018,

His first acquisition at the gallery was Francesco, a wax sculpture depicting Italian art curator Francesco Bonami "standing on a fridge and staring at his phone", created by Swiss artist Urs Fischer. The sculpture is transient, as a flame within will gradually melt the work over six or seven months, and was due to be installed in early 2019. He also planned a number of exhibitions for 2019, including two regional ones.

Quotes Mitzevich believes in the transformational power of art, based on his own experiences:

Footnotes