CURATOR, SCHOLAR, AND WRITER Isolde Brielmaier is joining the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College as curator-at-large. The Tang is expanding its curatorial team in order to advance its 21st century approach to presenting innovative contemporary art exhibitions and programming. In announcing the appointment, which begins this month, the museum said Brielmaier will “help develop new approaches for curating, commissioning, developing, and presenting the work of interdisciplinary artists and other cultural producers across platforms.” She will also play a role in expanding interdisciplinary research and scholarship at the museum, advise on key the museum acquisitions, and interact with the wider campus community.
“Isolde brings with her a deep knowledge of the art world, a global awareness, and strong scholarship that will be invaluable as we continue to grow our collection and expand our focus to include a broad range of artists and types of programming,” said Ian Berry, Dayton Director of the Tang Museum, in a statement about the announcement.
“Isolde brings with her a deep knowledge of the art world, a global awareness, and strong scholarship that will be invaluable as we continue to grow our collection and expand our focus to include a broad range of artists and types of programming.” — Ian Berry, Director of Tang Museum
Brielmaier’s experience spans a variety of institutions. She is an assistant professor of critical studies in the Department of Photography, Imaging, and Emerging Media at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and also serves as curator and director of arts and cultural programming at Westfield World Trade Center. Previously, she was chief curator of the SCAD Museum of Art and developed programming for a number of entities including the Prospect New Orleans biennial. She has also worked at the Bronx Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. A collaborator on projects with artists Leonardo Drew, Ellen Gallagher, Richard Mosse and Carrie Mae Weems, among others, Brielmaier earned a Ph.D. in art history, criticism, and conservation from Columbia University.
“The Tang Museum is a leader in presenting experimental and ambitious exhibitions, and I’m excited about this opportunity to work with the museum, and with the students, faculty, and staff at Skidmore College,” Brielmaier said in a museum statement. “The team at the Tang understands the role art can play in parsing out contemporary issues, and has a track record of opening conversations about these issues through a range of different programs. I am very much looking forward to building upon its great history of innovation and creativity.”
“The team at the Tang understands the role art can play in parsing out contemporary issues, and has a track record of opening conversations about these issues through a range of different programs. I am very much looking forward to building upon its great history of innovation and creativity.” — Isolde Brielmaier
In her new role, Brielmaier will work with Berry to strengthen engagement with the museum’s collection, which includes recent acquisitions by Nayland Blake, Willie Cole, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, and Weems. Earlier this year, the Tang Museum received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and matching support from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation and Skidmore to fund a $1.2 million, three-year initiative. Using the collection to explore issues of race and identity is among its priorities.
Located in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the Tang is a pioneer in integrating exhibition programming and collection studies into academic life and curriculum across a wide-range of disciplines. The teaching museum presented “Recital,” Terry Adkins’s career-spanning exhibition a few years ago, and Berry is working on a forthcoming catalog complementing the show and exploring the late artist’s practice. An exhibition surveying the work of Alma Thomas, the first comprehensive consideration of her work in two decades, was co-organized with the Studio Museum in Harlem earlier this year. Next fall, the museum is mounting a solo exhibition featuring the work of Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby. CT
TOP IMAGE: Isolde Brielmaier by Mangue-Banzima | Courtesy Tang Museum
BOOKSHELF
Isolde Brielmaier is a contributor to catalogs on artists including Zwelethu Mthethwa, Hector Acebes, Iona Rozeal Brown, Wangechi Mutu, Jeff Sunhouse, and Jose Parla. Ian Berry is co-author of “Alma Thomas,” a forthcoming comprehensive monograph complementing the artist’s recent exhibition at the Tang Museum and Studio Museum in Harlem.
