On Thursday, Dec. 15, the board of La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale) and its President Roberto Cicutto named museum director and CalArts alum Adriano Pedrosa (Art-Critical Studies MFA 95) as curator of the 60th edition of the art biennale, which is scheduled to open in April 2024.
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Pedrosa is currently the artistic director of Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) in Brazil. His extensive curatorial experience has prepared him for the challenges associated with organizing the world’s longest-running contemporary art exhibition.
Prior to his work at MASP, Pedrosa was adjunct curator of the 24th Bienal de São Paulo (1998), curator in charge of exhibitions and collections at Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (2000-2003), co-curator of the 27th Bienal de São Paulo (2006), and curator of the São Paulo pavilion at the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012).
As a writer, Pedrosa has been published in Artforum, Art Nexus (Bogotá), Bomb, Frieze (London), and The Exhibitionist (Berlin), among others. In 2013, Pedrosa worked with artist and CalArts faculty emeritus Leslie Dick to create the volume: A List of Students Enrolled in Post Studio Art, with Michael Asher at CalArts 1976-2008. The late artist and faculty member Asher was famously known for critiques in his Post Studio Art course, which could stretch from 10 am until evening. All proceeds from the sale of the book were donated to the Michael Asher Scholarship Fund at CalArts.
In a press statement about his appointment, Pedrosa noted:
I am honored and humbled by this prestigious appointment, especially as the first Latin American to curate the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, and in fact the first one based in the Southern Hemisphere. The Biennale is certainly the most important platform for contemporary art in the world, and it is an exciting challenge and a responsibility to embark on this project. I look forward to bringing artists to Venice and realizing their projects, as well as to working with the Biennale’s great team.
His work with the biennale includes organizing the large-scale group show as well as dozens of independently organized national exhibitions.
The 2024 Venice Biennale is scheduled to open on Saturday, April 20, running through Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.
