Philippe Vergne, a French curator who has led major contemporary art institutions on three continents, has joined The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach as artistic director and chief curator.

Vergne will work alongside Silvia Karman Cubiñá, the museum's longtime executive director, in a new leadership structure at the Collins Park institution. Vergne confirmed the role in a Modern Luxury interview published Sunday, July 20.

A career spanning three continents

From 2019 to 2026, Vergne directed the Serralves Contemporary Art Museum in Porto, Portugal. Before that, he served as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2014-2019) and the Dia Art Foundation in New York (2008-2014). He co-curated the 2006 Whitney Biennial and received France's Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2004.

Why Vergne says he took the job

In the interview, Vergne said he was drawn to The Bass's programming under Cubiñá's leadership, calling it "artist-centric, international and discreetly risky."

He pointed to two recent exhibitions as examples: Jack Pierson's show exploring love, sexuality and the body, and "El Fin de la Imaginación" by Adrián Villar Rojas and Mariana Telleria, which raised questions about the environment.

Balancing Miami Beach's leisure culture with serious art

Vergne described his biggest challenge in Miami Beach as balancing the city's leisure culture with serious art. "How do we bring meaningful content into this context?" he said. "I do not mean this dismissively — one of my first important group exhibitions at the Walker Art Center was called 'Let's Entertain' and was about the importance of entertainment and learning from visual languages that reach away from an academic language of art to make audiences think and feel."

The Walker exhibition, "Let's Entertain: Life's Guilty Pleasures," traveled to the Miami Art Museum in fall 2001, giving Vergne an early connection to the city's art scene.

About The Bass and its funding

The Bass, at 2100 Collins Ave., is a nonprofit accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is funded by the City of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts.

A growing campus

The museum has been expanding its footprint. In spring 2026, The Bass opened The Rotunda, a satellite gallery at 2150 Collins Ave. The $3.15 million renovation of the 1962 circular building was funded in part by the city's Arts and Culture General Obligation Bond and a State of Florida Cultural Facilities Grant. Board chairman George Lindemann said the space "extends the museum's campus into the city." The Rotunda is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., with free admission.