Chaédria LaBouvier


Chaédria LaBouvier is an American curator and journalist. In 2019, LaBouvier became the first Black curator, the first Black woman and the first person of Cuban descent to curate an exhibition in the Guggenheim's 80 year history, as well as the first Black author of a Guggenheim catalogue for the exhibition, "Basquiat's Defacement: The Untold Story". Her criticism of her treatment by the museum led to them hiring their first staff Black curator in the same year.

Early life and education

In 2007, LaBouvier received a B.A. in history from Williams College. In 2014, she earned a masters of fine arts degree in screenwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

In 2019, LaBouvier was hired by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as the first Black curator and the first Black woman in the history of the Guggenheim to organize an exhibition. The exhibition, "Basquiat's Defacement: The Untold Story," opened in June 2019 and covered not only Basquiat's work, but also the history of Michael Stewart, whose death from police brutality inspired the painting, The Death of Michael Stewart. Other paintings by Basquiat on the theme of police brutality and art featuring Stewart by Keith Haring, George Condo and Lyle Ashton Harris were also included in the exhibition. The focus of the show on Stewart and the struggle of black men living in the United States set the show apart from other exhibitions on Basquiat according to WNYC. The show ran for five months with hundreds of thousands of visitors.
LaBouvier is also the first Black author to write a Guggenheim catalogue. After criticism from LaBouvier, the Guggenheim hired their first full-time black curator, Ashley James, in 2019.