Joseph Thomas Del Pesco is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and arts writer. He is currently the International Director of

Kadist Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

Biography

He holds a 2005

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in Curatorial Practice from the

California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...

. He was co-founder of The Waiting Room with Jay Heikes and Jen Murphy in Minneapolis and was program director at the Soap Factory in 2002, and assistant curator of the Nelson Gallery at UC Davis. In 2006 he was awarded a curatorial residency at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

. Along with artist Scott Oliver, del Pesco founded the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

-based Shotgun Review, which was later taken over by Patricia Maloney and developed into Art Practical. The Shotgun Review was part of a larger exhibition project at the

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, nati ...

called the Collective Foundation, a "research and development organization offering services to artists and arts organizations". Del Pesco is currently the Director of the

Kadist Art Foundation Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

in San Francisco, and previously worked as adjunct curator for Artists Space in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He has curated exhibitions at

, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the Nelson Gallery and Fine Arts Collection at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

with curator Renny Pritikin, the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and wa ...

, and the de Young Art Center. In 2009 he organized an experimental school-without-walls called the Pickpocket Almanack with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. As an artist, del Pesco was chosen to participate in the

Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...

's 2002 group show, ''Watery, Domestic''.Watery, Domestic at the Renaissance Society
and was the recipient of a Jerome Foundation Fellowship.

Publications

Del Pesco has had his writing published in

Flash Art ''Flash Art'' is a contemporary art magazine, and an Italian and international publishing house. Originally published bilingually, both in Italian and in English, since 1978 is published in two separate editions, Flash Art Italia (Italian) and Fl ...

, Manifesta Journal,

Fillip Fillip is a Vancouver-based contemporary art publishing organization formed in 2004. It publishes a magazine as well as books of critical writing. The magazine with the same name was started in 2005. The publisher of the magazine is the Project ...

, X-Tra, Proximity, NERO, Mousse, and TENbyTEN Magazines. In 2018, his book of short stories "The Museum Took a Few Minutes to Collect Itself" was published by Art Metropole (Toronto, Canada).

References

External links

Official WebsiteSFMOMA BlogThe Collective FoundationInterview
with

American art curators California College of the Arts alumni 1975 births Living people {{US-art-display-stub