BRUMADINHO, BRAZIL.- The Instituto Inhotim announced the appointment of Eungie Joo as Director of Art and Cultural Programs. Joo’s appointment coincides with the departure of Director Jochen Volz, who has been appointed incoming Head of Programmes at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Rodrigo Moura, curator at Inhotim since 2004, will assume the position of Deputy Director of Art and Cultural Programs.
Eungie Joo joins Instituto Inhotim from the New Museum in New York, where she has served as Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs since 2007. She brings with her wide experience in contemporary exhibition making, art education, cultural programming, and the creation of innovative community-focused initiatives. In 2012, Joo was the curator of the New Museum Triennial, “The Ungovernables,” an exhibition that marked her vision in presenting significant artistic production from different parts of the world, including South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to North American audiences.
Roseni Sena, Executive Director of the Instituto Inhotim, said: “Welcoming Eungie Joo to the team of Inhotim marks an important moment in the institution’s young history. Her experience and vision will make a great contribution to shaping Inhotim as a unique place where contemporary art, botany, education, and community programs are considered and developed as means of social transformation.”
According to chief curator Allan Schwartzman: “Eungie's organizational experience and her singular curatorial perspective make her an ideal collaborator for our distinct way of collecting and presenting art. With Eungie on board, we will be even better equipped to fulfill the vision of Inhotim."
As of September 2012, Joo will lead Inhotim’s contemporary art and education departments, which currently engage with more than 120 collaborators. Together with curators Allan Schwartzman, Jochen Volz, Júlia Rebouças, and Rodrigo Moura, she will take a leading role in developing Inhotim’s internationally renowned contemporary art collection, exhibitions, and programs.
On her appointment, Eungie Joo comments: "It is an honor to join the visionary team at Inhotim whose unrivaled dedication to permanent commissions and artists’ pavilions has created a remarkable museum and compelling community programs. I look forward to participating in the continued growth of this unique project.”
At the New Museum, Joo spearheaded the Museum as Hub, an experimental international art initiative that explores artistic, curatorial, and institutional practice while serving as an important resource for the public to learn about contemporary art from around the world. As part of this initiative, she commissioned Night School by Anton Vidokle, Post-Living Anti-Action Theater by My Barbarian, and Project for a Revolution in New York, or How to Arrest a Hurricane by Ayreen Anastas, Rene Gabri, and Programs for Research and Outreach. She also presented the exhibitions “Nikhil Chopra: Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing IX,“ “Voice and Wind: Haegue Yang,” and “Carlos Motta: We Who Feel Differently.” In addition to contributing to various exhibition catalogues and magazines, she is editor of Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (Routledge, 2011) and co-editor of Art Spaces Directory (ArtAsiaPacific and New Museum, 2012). In 2009, Joo served as commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, presenting the exhibition “Condensation: Haegue Yang.” Joo was founding Director and Curator of the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles (2003-2007), where she commissioned major new works and exhibitions by Mark Bradford, Taro Shinoda, Damián Ortega, Sora Kim, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Kara Walker, and others. She received the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement in 2006.
Jochen Volz, outgoing Artistic Director of Instituto Inhotim, will assume his new post as Head of Programmes at the Serpentine Gallery in London after this year’s inaugurations at Inhotim, scheduled for September 6. Volz joined Inhotim in 2004 as curator and from 2005 to 2007 also served as General Director of the institution. Under Volz’s artistic coordination, Inhotim opened twelve galleries and pavilions by artists including Adriana Varejao, Doris Salcedo, Doug Aitken,and Matthew Barney and numerous large-scale site-specific projects by Chris Burden, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and others. Volz will continue to serve on Inhotim’s board of curators.
