Kim Conaty is an American art historian and museum curator currently serving as the Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.[1]

Kim Conaty
NationalityAmerican
EducationMiddlebury College (B.A.), Williams College (M.A.), Institute of Fine Arts (NYU) (Ph.D.)
Occupation(s)Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator
EmployerWhitney Museum of American Art

Early life and education

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Conaty received her B.A. from Middlebury College in 1999, followed by an M.A. in art history from Williams College and a Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 2016.[2] In 2003, Conaty was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Germany.[3] She then worked as biennial coordinator for the 2008 Whitney Biennial, following her previous posts as researcher and curatorial intern at the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University Art Museums, Grey Art Museum, and Clark Art Institute.[3]

Career

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In 2008, Conaty was appointed the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr., Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she curated exhibitions on Marcel Broodthaers, Fluxus, and conceptual art, among other subjects. In December 2015, Conaty was hired as full curator at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.[4] In 2017, Conaty was appointed the Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Whitney Museum.[5]

During her tenure at the Whitney, she curated exhibitions dedicated to the work of Edward Hopper (2022) and Ruth Asawa (2023), the former becoming one of the best-attended shows in the museum's history.[6] In 2024, she was promoted to the Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator, replacing Scott Rothkopf who had been appointed the director of the museum.[7] Responsible for the museum's permanent collection, acquisitions, exhibition and conservation activities, the Whitney's chief curator position has been described as "one of the most influential in the contemporary art world".[7]

References

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  1. ^ Durón, Maximilíano (2024-04-03). "Whitney Museum Promotes Kim Conaty to Chief Curator". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  2. ^ "New Leader at Whitney Museum". Middlebury College. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  3. ^ a b "Kim Conaty Appointed Curator of Rose Art Museum". Brandeis University. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  4. ^ Ghorashi, Hannah (2015-11-03). "Kim Conaty Named Curator of Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  5. ^ "Kim Conaty Appointed Chief Curator at the Whitney". Artforum. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  6. ^ Halperin, Julia (2024-04-03). "Whitney Museum Names Chief Curator". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-06. Her celebrated 2022-2023 exhibition "Edward Hopper's New York" was among the best-attended in the museum's history, while the 2023-2024 exhibition of drawings by Ruth Asawa that she organized with another curator was lauded as "revelatory" by The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b Halperin, Julia (2024-04-03). "Whitney Museum Names Chief Curator". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-06.