Bice Curiger

Beatrice "Bice" Curiger (born 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss art historian, curator, critic and publisher. In 2011 she became only the third woman to curate the Venice Biennale. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles.

Bice Curiger was born in 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. She studied art history at the University of Zurich. After graduation she became an art critic at the Swiss daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

Co-Founder and Chief Editor of Parkett (since 1984); Independent Curator for various international art galleries, museums and exhibitions, including for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (France), the Hayward Gallery in London (UK), the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the 54th Biennale di Venezia (Italy); Curator of the Kunsthaus Zürich (1993-2013); Editor of Tate Etc. magazine (since 2004); Former Member of the Federal Arts Council; Lecturer at Humboldt-Universität of Berlin (Germany) (2006–07); Artistic Director and Exhibition Curator of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles (France) (since 2013).

In 2011 Curiger curated the 54th Venice Biennale, which she entitled ILLUMinations. She was the third-ever woman to curate the prestigious event since its inception (Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez co-curated the Biennale in 2005). Curiger explained that the name of the exhibition was meant to "shed light on the institution itself, drawing attention to dormant and unrecognized opportunities, as well as to conventions that need to be challenged." Curiger asked five open questions to all participating artists: Where do you feel at Home? Does the future speak English or another language? Is the artistic community a nation? How many nations do you feel inside yourself? If art was a nation what would be written in its constitution? Curiger selected 84 artists for her exhibition.

In 2013 Curiger became the Artistic Director of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles in Arles, France. The museum is dedicated to Vincent van Gogh's time spent in Arles and organizes exhibits that foster relationships between van Gogh and contemporary artists.

In 1984 Curiger co-founded the bi-annual contemporary art magazine Parkett. She has been the Editor-in-Chief since its founding. Since 2004 Curiger has also served as the Editorial Director of Tate's art magazine Tate Etc.

...
Wikipedia