Christopher Y. Lew departs Whitney Museum to lead Horizon foundation in Los Angeles

Christopher Y. Lew, who recently left his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York after seven years, has been appointed to lead the newly established nonprofit Horizon foundation in Los Angeles. The foundation is funded by collectors Jason Li and Harry Hu, who have also launched the NFT platform Outland under the direction of former Art in America editor Brian Droitcour. Horizon's program will provide four artists annually with residencies lasting up to two months, including a stipend and access to a 446-square-meter studio. May Xue, previously with Hong Kong's K11 Art Foundation as general manager and director of educational and institutional relations, joins as chief executive director. While the foundation aims to attract international artists, initial participants will be based in North America due to current travel restrictions. During his tenure at the Whitney, Lew organized significant exhibitions such as Pope.L: Choir (2019) and Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape (2018), and presented the first U.S. solo shows for Sophia Al-Maria, Rachel Rose, and Jared Madere. He was also involved in the 2017 Whitney Biennial controversy surrounding Dana Schutz's painting Open Casket (2016), which he co-curated.