Adam Szymczyk (Polish pronunciation: ; born in 1970 in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the second-largest city situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Previously, it was the capita ...

), is a Polish art critic and

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 ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and editor. He lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. Between 2003–2014, he was the director and chief curator at

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre and is located next to the city's ...

. Between 2013 and 2017, he was the artistic director at

documenta 14 documenta 14 was the fourteenth edition of the art exhibition documenta and took place in 2017 in both Kassel, Germany, its traditional home, and Athens, Greece. It was held first in Athens from 8 April to 16 July, and in Kassel from 10 June ...

. He is curator at large at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In 2016, he was ranked second on the list of the most influential people in the

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 ...

world compiled by the '' ArtReview'' magazine.

Biography

He was born in 1970 in

in central Poland and moved to

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

at the age of four. He frequently visited the Museum of Art in Łódź and became interested in art. He obtained his master's degree in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...

. In 1996 he completed the curatorial training program at

De Appel De Appel is a contemporary arts centre, located in Amsterdam. Since it was founded in 1975 by , the goal of De Appel is to function as a stage for research and presentation of visual arts. Exhibitions, publications and discursive events are the m ...

contemporary art center in Amsterdam . After moving back to Poland, he co-founded the Foksal Gallery Foundation in Warsaw in 1997 together with Joanna Mytkowska and Andrzej Przywara and worked there as curator until 2003. He was director and chief curator at

from 2003 to 2014. In 2008, he co-curated with Elena Filipovic the 5th

Berlin Biennale The Berlin Biennale (full name: Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art exhibition, which has been held at various locations in Berlin, Germany, every two to three years since 1998. T ...

for Contemporary Art, ''When Things Cast No Shadow''. In 2013, he was appointed Artistic Director of

, which took place in Athens and Kassel in 2017.

Curator

Selected exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel

2014:

Naeem Mohaiemen Naeem Mohaiemen (born 1969) uses film, photography, installation, and essays to research South Asia's postcolonial markers (the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971). His projects on the 1970s revolutionary l ...

, ''Prisoners of Shotik Itihash''; Vivian Suter, ''intrépida,'' featuring Elisabeth Wild ''Fantasias 2''; Ross Birrell and David Harding, ''Winter Line'' 2013: Mandla Reuter, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, ''Songs for a Mad King''; Adrian Melis, ''The Value of Absence''; Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat, ''Journal'' 2012: Hannah Weinberger, ''When You Leave, Walk Out Backwards, So I’ll Think That You’re Walking In''; Craigie Horsefield, ''Slow Time and the Present'';

Paul Sietsema Paul Sietsema (born 1968) is a Los Angeles-based American artist who works primarily in film, painting and drawing. His work addresses the production, consumption, and proliferation of cultural objects, reflecting his interest in the possibility of ...

; Adriana Lara, ''S.S.O.R.''; Pamela Rosenkranz, ''Feeding, Fleeing, Fighting, Reproduction'' 2011: Sung Hwan Kim, ''Line Wall''; ''How to Work'' and ''How to Work (More for Less)''; R.H. Quaytman, ''Spine, Chapter 20''; Danai Anesiadou, ''Damnesia Vu''; Yael Davids, ''Ending with Glass'' 2010: Harald Thys & Jos de Gruyter, ''Projekt 13''; ''After Architects'' ( Latifa Echakhch, David Jablonowsky, Charlotte Moth, John Smith,

James Welling James Welling (born 1951 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American artist, photographer and educator living in New York City. He attended Carnegie-Mellon University where he studied drawing with Gandy Brodie and at the University of Pittsburgh where ...

, Haegue Yang); Cyprien Gaillard, ''Obstacles to Renewal''; Lili Reynaud-Dewar, ''Interpretation''; Moyra Davey, ''Speaker Receiver'' 2009: Goshka Macuga, ''I Am Become Death''; Thea Djordjadze, ''endless enclosure''; Lucy Skaer, ''A Boat Used as a Vessel''; Danh Vo, ''When the Lions Are''; ''Report on Probability'' ( Sven Augustijnen, Andreas Bunte, Patricia Esquivias, Runo Lagomarsino, Anna Molska, Anna Niesterowicz,

Corin Sworn Corin Sworn (born 1976) is an artist who lives and works in Glasgow. Her 2012 installation and film ''The Foxes'' was shown at the Scottish Pavilion of the 2013 Venice Biennale. Sworn was the recipient of the fifth edition of the Max Mara Art Pr ...

); Daniel Knorr, ''Led R. Nanirok'' 2008: Peter Friedl, ''Working''; Aleana Egan, ''We sat down where we had sat before''; Ahmet Öğüt, ''Mutual Issues, Inventive Acts''; Armando Andrade Tudela, ''Gamblers Die Broke''; Guido van der Werve, ''On parity of days''; Alexandra Bachzetsis, ''Show'' 2007:

Paola Pivi Paola Pivi (born 1971) is an Italian multimedia artist. She has worked in artistic media including photography, sculpture and installation. Some of her works contain performance elements, at times involving live animals and people. In 1999, she ...

, ''It Just Keeps Getting Better''; Micol Assaël, ''Chizhevsky Lessons''; Minerva Cuevas, ''Phenomena''; Ibon Arranberi, ''Integration'' 2006: Gustav Metzger, ''In Memoriam: New Works''; Ahlam Shibli, ''Trackers''; Diango Hernandez, ''Revolution''; Nairy Baghramian, ''Es ist ausser haus''; Kate Davis, ''STOP!STOP!STOP!''; Lee Lozano, ''WIN FIRST DONT LAST WIN LAST DON'T CARE'' (retrospective exhibition, travelled to Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven); Peter Peri ''Country 10''; ''QUAUHNAUHUAC: The Straight Line Is a Utopia'' (Maria Thereza Alves, Dr. Atl, Ross Birrell & David Harding, Friederike Clever, Jimmie Durham, Cisco Jiménez,

Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and mu ...

, Hildegard Spielhöfer) 2005: SUPERFLEX, ''Supershow''; Artur Zmijewski; Tomma Abts;

Carl Andre Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures and for the suspected murder of contemporary and wife, Ana Mendieta. His sculptures range from large public art ...

''Black Wholes, 44 Carbon Copper Triads''; Christoph Büchel, ''Hole''; Jeremy Deller & Alan Kane, ''Folk Archive'' 2004: Piotr Uklański, ''Earth, Wind and Fire''; Rosalind Nashashibi, ''Over In''; Damian Ortega 2003: Nicoletta Stalder, ''Hallimasch: Was tun in 30 Tagen?/What To Do in 30 days''?

Other curated and co-curated exhibitions (selection)

2021: ''Wilhelm Sasnal: Such a Landscape'',

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews ( pl, Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich) is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word ''Polin'' in the museum's English name means either "Poland" or "rest here" and relates to a ...

, Warsaw ''Yannis Tsarouchis: Dancing in Real Life'', co-curated with Androniki Gripari, Wrightwood 659, Chicago 2020: ''Elisabeth Wild:'' ''Fantasías'', Karma International, Zurich, featuring Raúl Itamar Lima and Sophie Thun 2019: ''1937-2017: Von Entarteter Kunst zu Enstellter Kunst'', HGB-Galerie, Hochschule für Gestaltung und Buchkunst, Leipzig (with students of the HGB and including Frankfurter Hauptschule, Henrike Naumann, Olu Oguibe and Artur Żmijewski) ''Tirana Patience'', National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, co-curated with Nataša Ilić (works from the collection of NGA and featuring Chto Delat, Anna Daučíková, Iman Issa, Doruntina Kastrati, Larion Lozovoy, Ibrahim Mahama, David Maljkovic,

Anri Sala Anri Sala (born 1974) is an Albanian contemporary artist whose primary medium is video. Life and career Sala studied art at the Albanian Academy of Arts from 1992 to 1996. He also studied video at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Pari ...

, Gentian Shkurti and Artur Żmijewski) ''Wild Spoerri Rosenstein'', Hotel am Brillantengrund, Vienna (with students of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien and featuring

Elisabeth Wild Elisabeth Wild (6 February 1922 – 12 February 2020) was an Austrian collage artist. Early life and education Born in Europe, Wild emigrated to Argentina with her parents in Franz and Stefanie Pollack in 1938. Wild studied painting at the Acade ...

Daniel Spoerri Daniel Spoerri (born 27 March 1930) is a Swiss artist and writer born in Romania. Spoerri is best known for his "snare-pictures," a type of assemblage or object art, in which he captures a group of objects, such as the remains of meals eaten by in ...

and

Erna Rosenstein Erna Rosenstein (17 May 1913 – 10 November 2004) was a surrealist painter and poet. Biography She was the daughter of an Austrian-Jewish judge and Ukrainian mom. She was born in the town of Lemberg, Austria-Hungary. In 1918 they moved ...

) 2017:

, Athens and Kassel, various venues. Artistic director: Adam Szymczyk, curators: Pierre Bal-Blanc, Hendrik Folkerts,

Candice Hopkins Candice Hopkins (born 1977) is a Carcross/Tagish First Nation independent curator, writer, and researcher who predominantly explores areas of indigenous history, and art. Early life and education Candice Hopkins was born 1977 in Whitehorse, Yuk ...

, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Hila Peleg, Paul B. Preciado, Dieter Roelstraete, Monika Szewczyk, and curatorial advisors: Natasha Ginwala, Marina Fokidis, Andrea Linennkohl, Erzen Shkololli, Elena Sorokina, Paolo Thorsen-Nagel, Katerina Tselou. Full documenta 14 team list: 2012: ''Olinka, or Where Movement Is Created'', Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (with Dr. Atl, Nahui Olin, Manuel Rodriguez Lozano,

Susan Hiller Susan Hiller (March 7, 1940 – January 28, 2019) was an American-born artist who lived in London, United Kingdom. Her art practice included installation, video, photography, performance and writing. Early life and education Born in Tallah ...

, Mariana Castillo Deball,

Thea Djordjadze Tea Jorjadze Thea Djordjadze ( ka, თეა ჯორჯაძე; born 1971 in Tbilisi, Georgia) is a contemporary artist based in Berlin, Germany. She is best known for sculpture and installation art, but also works in a variety of other media ( ...

, Vivian Suter,

Nairy Baghramian Nairy Baghramian (born 1971) is an Iranian-born German visual artist. Since 1984, she has lived and worked in Berlin. When the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum selected Baghramian as a finalist for the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize, they described Baghram ...

, Paulina Olowska, Tercerunquinto, and Kate Davis, a.o.) 2010: ''Strange Comfort (Afforded by the Profession)'', co-curated with Salvatore Lacagnina, Istituto Svizzero and Keats-Shelley House, Rome (with Ross Birrell & David Harding, Nancy Davenport, Moyra Davey, Jimmie Durham, Dunja Herzog, Cécile Hummel, Goshka Macuga, Franco Vaccari, and Danh Vo) 2010: ''masqué'', Magazin 4, Kunstverein Bregenz (with

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer ...

, Tomislav Gotovac,

Ion Grigorescu Ion Grigorescu (born March 15, 1945 in Bucharest) is a Romanian painter who was one of the first Romanian conceptual artists. Grigorescu is the creator of numerous films, photographic series, and actions recorded on film, as well as drawings and ...

, Tibor Hajas, Edward Krasiński, Katerina Seda, and Artur Żmijewski, a.o.) 2008: ''When Things Cast No Shadow: the 5th berlin biennial of contemporary art'', co-curated with Elena Filipovic, Neue Nationalgalerie, KW-Institute of Contemporary Art, Skulpturenpark Berlin_Zentrum, Schinkel Pavilion; including the program of over sixty nightly events ''Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours'', various venues 2003: ''Hidden in a Daylight'', co-curated with Joanna Mytkowska and Andrzej Przywara (with

Paweł Althamer Paweł Althamer (born 12 May 1967, Warsaw) is a Polish contemporary sculptor, performer, collaborative artist and creator of installations, and video art. Life and work In the years 1988-1993, he studied sculpture at the Warsaw Academy of Fin ...

, Christoph Büchel, Omer Fast, Jeanne Faust, Lucy McKenzie & Paulina Olowska, Enrique Metinides, Pierre Huyghe, and Mathilde Rosier, a.o.), Era Nowe Horyzonty, Cieszyn, Poland 2002: ''Tadeusz Rolke'', Kunstverein in Hamburg 2001: ''Painters Competition'', City Gallery Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biala, Poland 2000: ''Amateur 1900–2000. Variable Research Initiatives'', commissioned by Konstmuseum Göteborg, co-curated with Charles Esche and Mark Kremer (with Tacita Dean, Maria Eichhorn, Job Koelewijn, Maria Lindberg, Borre Saethre, among others, and including works from various museum collections in Göteborg) 2000: ''Piotr Uklanski: The Nazis'', Zacheta National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Warsaw 1998: ''Guy Debord: ad vocem'', Centre of Contemporary Art, Warsaw 1998: ''Roundabout'', Centre of Contemporary Art, Warsaw (with

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

, Henrik Håkansson, Twan Janssen, Claudia & Julia Müller, Manfred Pernice, Dan Peterman, Tobias Rehberger, Marijke van Warmerdam, Richard Wright) 1996: ''Hans Bellmer: Kattowitz 1905–Paris 1975'', co-curated with Andrzej Przywara,

Silesian Museum Silesian Museum in Katowice ( pl, Muzeum Śląskie w Katowicach) is a museum in the City of Katowice, Poland. History The museum was founded in 1929 by the Silesian Sejm, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the XX ...

, Katowice 1996: ''Crapshoot'', De Appel, Amsterdam, graduate show co-curated with the participants of the Curatorial Training Program (with Maurizio Catellan, Jeroen Eisinga, Kendell Geers,

Henrik Plenge Jakobsen Henrik Plenge Jakobsen (born 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish conceptual artist, who works in a variety of media, from sculpture and installation art to performance art and public intervention. He has studied at the Royal Danish Academy o ...

, among others)

Teaching

Seminar "1937-2017: Von Entarteter Kunst zu Entstellter Kunst" at Hochschule für Gestaltung und Buchkunst, Leipzig, 2019/2020 Seminars "Principle of Equality" and "Undoing Landscape" at

Akademie der Bildenden Künste The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

, Vienna, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 Seminar "What Is an Exhibition?" at the department of Art History,

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, 2012/2013

Other activities

Member of the Board of th
Museum of Modern Art
in Warsaw Member of the Art Advisory Committee o
Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation
in Vienna Member of the Scientific Committee
MUDAM
in Luxembourg

Prizes

* 2011 –

Walter Hopps Walter "Chico" Hopps (May 3, 1932 – March 20, 2005) was an American museum director, gallerist, and curator of contemporary art. Hopps helped bring Los Angeles post-war artists to prominence during the 1960s, and later went on to redefine pract ...

Award for Curatorial Achievement, Menil Foundation, Houston.

References

External links

* * 1970 births Living people Polish curators Polish art historians {{Poland-artist-stub