Adrienne Edwards

Adrienne Edwards is a New York–based art curator, scholar, and writer.[1][2] Edwards is currently the Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Whitney Museum of American Art.[3]

Career

Edwards curated performance commissions at Performa from 2010 to 2018.[4] From 2016 to in 2018, Edwards worked as curator at large at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.[4] In 2016, she curated a show Blackness in Abstraction, at Pace Gallery.[5][6] In 2019, Edwards with Danielle A. Jackson curated an exhibition at the Whitney: Jason Moran, the first museum survey devoted to the MacArthur-winning pianist and conceptualist.[7] Edwards received a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University.[8] She previously taught art history and visual studies at New York University and The New School.[8]

Whitney Biennial 2022

Main article: 2022 Whitney Biennial

In October 2019, the Whitney Museum announced that Adrienne Edwards and David Breslin would curate the 2022 Whitney Biennial.[9] She is the official co-curator alongside David Breslin for Quiet as It’s Kept, the eighteenth iteration of the landmark exhibition.[10] The 2022 Whitney Biennial officially opens to the public on April 6, 2022.

Writing

Edwards authored the catalog for Blackness in Abstraction, the group exhibition she organized at Pace Gallery; as well as, contributing to the "Carrie Mae Weems: The Kitchen Table Series" and Ellen Gallagher's catalog Accidental Records.[11] Edwards was the performance reviews editor for the journal of feminist theory Women & Performance.[4]

Other activities

Edwards chaired the juries that selected Kapwani Kiwanga for the Frieze Artist Award (2018)[12] and Simone Leigh and Sonia Boyce for awards at the Venice Biennale (2022).[13] In 2019, she nominated Yto Barrada for the Prince Pierre Foundation's International Contemporary Art Prize; the prize ultimately went to Arthur Jafa though.[14][15]

Other activities include:

• Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2019)[16]
• Denniston Hill, Member of the Advisory Board[17]

References

1. Bourland, Ian (2018-03-20). "The Whitney's New Curator of Performance Art Is Raising the Stakes". Garage. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
2. Pogrebin, Robin (2019-10-07). "Whitney Museum Chooses Curators for Its Next Biennial". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
3. Valentine, Victoria L. (2021-04-09). "Whitney Museum in New York Promotes Adrienne Edwards From Curator of Performance to Director of Curatorial Affairs". Culture Type. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
4. Greenberger, Alex (22 February 2018). "Adrienne Edwards Named Curator of Performance at Whitney Museum". ARTnews.
5. Cohen, Alina (2016-07-28). "The Art World's Most Daring – and Fun – Season". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
6. Andy Battaglia (26 June 2016), Dark Matter at Pace Gallery Wall Street Journal.
7. Russonello, Giovanni (2019-09-26). "Jason Moran's Jazz Journey at the Whitney Upends Space and Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
8. Valentine, Victoria L. (2024-02-23). "Adrienne Edwards Appointed Senior Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Programs at Whitney Museum, Expanding Her Leadership Role". Culture Type. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
9. Battaglia, Andy (2019-10-07). "For 2021 Edition of Its Closely Watched Biennial, Whitney Museum Goes with Two Recent Hires". ARTnews. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
10. "Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept". whitney.org. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
11. "Adrienne Edwards Has Been Appointed Curator of Performance at the Whitney Museum". Retrieved 2019-10-30.
12. Grace Halio (15 February 2018), Kapwani Kiwanga Named Winner of the Frieze Artist Award ARTnews.
13. Alex Greenberger (23 April 2022), Black Women Reign Victorious at Venice Biennale as Simone Leigh, Sonia Boyce Win Top Awards ARTnews.
14. Annie Armstrong (17 April 2019), Here’s the Shortlist for the $85,000 Prix International d’Art Contemporain ARTnews.
15. Arthur Jafa Wins $83,000 International Prize for Contemporary Art Artforum, 16 October 2019.
16. Maximilíano Durón (March 2019), ICA VCU Adds Adam Pendleton, Adrienne Edwards to Advisory Board Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU.
17. Advisory Board Denniston Hill.

External links

• A Conversation Between Adrienne Edwards and Okwui Okpokwasili, Dedalus Foundation