Peter Gallagher as David Walsh
Peter Gallagher as David Walsh
2011
Pierre Bismuth
Born 1963, Paris, France; lives and works in New York, NY, USA and Brussels, Belgium
Colour photocopy
Mona 2012.001
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/21/tasmanian-devil
People always want to know more about David. That’s tough, because this whole enterprise is an expression of his character—or, more accurately, an attempt for him to get to know himself better. ‘There are three things extremely hard,’ said Benjamin Franklin, ‘steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.’
So what exactly is it that you want to know about David? How he made his money? (Gambling, but you knew that already.) Where he grew up? (Glenorchy, down the road from Mona.) Does this information really tell you anything about a person?
‘I’m a mess of little boys fighting in a sack,’ he says.
Something people ask a lot is: How involved is David with what happens at the museum? The answer is: usually, he is very involved. He leads a crack curatorial team that includes Directors Nicole Durling and Olivier Varenne, Exhibition Designer Adrian Spinks, Senior Research Curator Jane Clark, Curator Jarrod Rawlins, and Research Curator/Senior Writer Elizabeth Pearce, just to name a few.
Most of what we do at Mona is dear to David's heart, but sometimes he is happy to stand back and see what his team comes up with. Even so, we live in fear of God.
Quotable quote: ‘Artists are just like human beings, only not as smart.’
Special skills: Table tennis, moving like Jagger, and writing stupid little bios about himself, c.f.
David Walsh built a museum despite (or because of) a low level of chopstick proficiency. His high school reference conceded, 'Any employer who can get David to work will be very lucky.' He was once gainfully employed by the tax office, and has been paying for it ever since.
Peter Gallagher as David Walsh
Peter Gallagher as David Walsh
2011
Pierre Bismuth
Born 1963, Paris, France; lives and works in New York, NY, USA and Brussels, Belgium
Colour photocopy
Mona 2012.001
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/21/tasmanian-devil
People always want to know more about David. That’s tough, because this whole enterprise is an expression of his character—or, more accurately, an attempt for him to get to know himself better. ‘There are three things extremely hard,’ said Benjamin Franklin, ‘steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.’
So what exactly is it that you want to know about David? How he made his money? (Gambling, but you knew that already.) Where he grew up? (Glenorchy, down the road from Mona.) Does this information really tell you anything about a person?
‘I’m a mess of little boys fighting in a sack,’ he says.
Something people ask a lot is: How involved is David with what happens at the museum? The answer is: usually, he is very involved. He leads a crack curatorial team that includes Directors Nicole Durling and Olivier Varenne, Exhibition Designer Adrian Spinks, Senior Research Curator Jane Clark, Curator Jarrod Rawlins, and Research Curator/Senior Writer Elizabeth Pearce, just to name a few.
Most of what we do at Mona is dear to David's heart, but sometimes he is happy to stand back and see what his team comes up with. Even so, we live in fear of God.
Quotable quote: ‘Artists are just like human beings, only not as smart.’
Special skills: Table tennis, moving like Jagger, and writing stupid little bios about himself, c.f.
David Walsh built a museum despite (or because of) a low level of chopstick proficiency. His high school reference conceded, 'Any employer who can get David to work will be very lucky.' He was once gainfully employed by the tax office, and has been paying for it ever since.