Eungie Joo, head curator of contemporary art at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was fired on Dec. 17 for allegedly violating the museum’s workplace conduct policy.
“In accordance with institutional policy on workplace conduct, Eungie Joo was separated from SFMOMA on December 17,” a museum spokesperson told KQED over email. “We do not comment on the specifics of personnel matters.”
Joo arrived at SFMOMA in 2017 after holding many prominent positions in the art world. Previously, she had served as director and curator of public programs at New York’s New Museum from 2007–2012. She also worked internationally, curating the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2009 and the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in 2015.
For her first show at SFMOMA, Joo curated the 2019 exhibition SOFT POWER, in which 20 living, international artists under the age of 50 took on issues such as colonialism, the environment and art’s ability to influence social change. More recently, she brought in a site-specific installation by Kara Walker, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), which is on view at the museum through the spring of 2026.
Joo’s dismissal arrives in the wake of several high-profile departures from the museum. Its director of 19 years, Neal Benezra, stepped down in 2021. Garry Garrels, SFMOMA’s former chief curator, resigned in 2020, after an uproar from employees over his comments about “reverse discrimination” against white men.
