Whitney Museum Names Kim Conaty Chief Curator

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Kim Conaty will take over as Chief Curator of New York‘s Whitney Museum of American Art effective 8 April.

Conaty recently curated the exhibition Edward Hopper’s New York (2022), which the museum described as ‘one of the most popular and critically acclaimed exhibitions’ in its history.

Conaty’s ‘brilliance as an exhibition maker is matched by her deep scholarly expertise across the range of the Whitney’s program and collection from 1900 to the present,’ said the museum’s director, Scott Rothkopf.

Prior to joining the Whitney, Conaty held posts as Curator at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and Assistant Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. She also earned a Ph.D. from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.

‘I’m excited to guide and empower our stellar curatorial team as we continue to shape the Whitney’s collection in meaningful ways and develop dynamic and rigorous exhibitions that tell stories, ask questions, and engage deeply with artists and audiences,’ Conaty said.

The Whitney Biennial, one of the most carefully watched exhibition’s on the museum’s calendar, opened on 20 March and continues through 11 August.

Writing about the exhibition for Artnet News, critic Ben Davis said the exhibition, Even Better Than the Real Thing,’ feels like it has drilled even deeper into one specific vibe of atonement and withdrawal’.

‘It feels as if art has curled itself up into a ball,’ he said. —[O]

Main image: View of the Whitney Museum of American Art from Gansevoort Street. Photo: Ed Lederman, 2015.