LYNNE COOKE AND VASIF KORTUN TO RECEIVE THE 2006 AWARD FOR CURATORIAL EXCELLENCE FROM THE CENTER FOR CURATORIAL STUDIES AT BARD COLLEGE ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2006

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College will present its ninth annual Award for Curatorial Excellence to Lynne Cooke, curator, DIA Art Foundation, New York, and Vasif Kortun, director, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul. Awardees were selected by a panel of leading critics, curators, art experts, and alumni on behalf of the CCS. About the Award Each year the Center for Curatorial Studies celebrates the individual achievements of a leading curator or curators whose lasting contributions have shaped the way we conceive of exhibition-making today. Past recipients of the award include Harald Szeemann (1998), Marcia Tucker (1999), Kasper König (2000), Paul Schimmel (2001), Suzanne Ghez (2002), Kynaston McShine (2003), Walter Hopps (2004), and Kathy Halbreich and Mari Carmen Ramírez (2005). This year marks the second occasion that two recipients will receive the award, reflecting the Center’s commitment to recognizing individuals who have defined new thinking, bold vision, and dedicated service to the field of exhibition practice. The formal presentation of the award will be made at a gala dinner on April 5 at the Central Park Boathouse in New York. Lynne Cooke For more than a decade, Lynne Cooke’s exhibitions, essays, and other projects have been a vital force in the contemporary art world. Since 1991, she has been curator at Dia Art Foundation in New York. Cocurator of the 1991 Carnegie International and artistic director of the 1996 Sydney Biennial, she has curated exhibitions in numerous venues in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. Renowned for her incisive critical essays, Cooke has written many artist monographs, including publications on Rodney Graham, Jorge Pardo, Diana Thater, and Agnes Martin. Vasif Kortun In his various international projects, exhibitions, writings, and lectures, Vasif Kortun has employed an experimental approach and openness to new ideas to challenge the contemporary art world and push its parameters beyond national or international, local or global developments. He was chief curator and director of the 3rd International Istanbul Biennial in 1992; the first director of the Museum of the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (1994–97); founding director of the Proje4L Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art (2001–03); and cocurator, with Charles Esche of the 9th Istanbul Biennial in 2005. About the Center for Curatorial Studies The graduate program at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College is the preeminent program of its kind in the United States dedicated to training curators and critics of contemporary art. The curriculum is specifically designed to deepen students’ understanding of the intellectual and practical tasks of curating exhibitions of contemporary art, particularly in the complex social and cultural situations of present-day urban arts institutions. The Center for Curatorial Studies was founded in 1990 by Marieluise Hessel and Richard Black. For further information, call the Center for Curatorial Studies at 845-758-7598, e-mail ccs@bard.edu, or visit www.bard.edu/ccs. # # # (1/2/06)

This event was last updated on 10-19-2006

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