PRESS RELEASE Beatrix Ruf new Director Stedelijk Museum

PRESS RELEASE
Beatrix Ruf new Director
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Amsterdam, April 8, 2014 — Today, the
Supervisory Board of the Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam announces the appointment of
Beatrix Ruf as new Director of the Stedelijk.
Ruf is currently Director of the Kunsthalle
Zürich. The Supervisory Board speaks very
highly of her keen eye for quality and emerging
talent, her extensive professional network, and
her distinctive, radical and self-assured
programming for the Kunsthalle Zürich, as well
as her impressive personal dedication in
presenting the institution and placing it at the
centre of debate. Ruf succeeds Ann Goldstein,
who was Artistic Director at the Stedelijk
Museum Amsterdam for the past 4 years and
will jointly lead the Museum with Managing
Director Karin van Gilst.
Over the last 15 years, Beatrix Ruf has
become widely acknowledged as one of the
most influential figures in the international art
world. For several years, the American journal
Art Review has named her as one of the topranking art professionals in its ‘Power Top
100’, ranking her 7th in 2013.
Beatrix Ruf (Singen, Germany, 1960) was
appointed Director of the Kunsthalle Zürich in
2001. She initiated an extensive reconstruction
and expansion project in 2003, which took
place in 2011 and 2012. At the Kunsthalle
Zürich, Ruf developed a distinguished
exhibition program of solo presentations and
group presentations. She also gave many
young artists their first museum presentation
at the Kunsthalle Zürich.
Ruf embraces experimentation, as proven by
the numerous ambitious new art installations
she commissioned for Kunsthalle Zürich. Ruf
also initiated art-historically relevant projects
Beatrix Ruf, Photo: Robin de Puy
such as the long-anticipated survey exhibitions
of Yang Fudong and Ian Wallace, among
others. She also provided a platform for many
important, but lesser-known or ‘forgotten’,
artists. By exhibiting their work generously and
at precisely the right moment, Ruf gave them a
well-deserved place in the canon, correcting
art history and highlighting meaningful
connections between historical and current art
forms. In her programming Ruf focused on
renowned local artists, the upcoming
generation and ‘non-Western’ artists alike.
In Zürich, Ruf presented the breadth of
contemporary art production―from local to
national, regional and international.
Ruf embeds her projects within a network of
prominent international institutions including
the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Tate Liverpool,
the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, the Van
Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and Moderna
Museet in Stockholm. In addition to her
directorship in Zürich, Ruf has also been
involved with numerous prestigious
international biennials and triennials. In 2006,
she was the curator of the successful third
edition of the Tate Triennial in London.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is supported by:
Principal sponsor
Partner
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Alexander Ribbink, Chairman of the
Supervisory Board: “We believe that, with her
profound and inspiring international scope,
Beatrix Ruf is the best choice for this museum
and its visitors. She shows a unique ability to
connect the museum to artists, collectors, the
private and public sector, and the city. She
brings a contemporary vision to the Museum
which will expand upon the Stedelijk’s
illustrious history and bring it forward to the
21st century.”
Karin van Gilst: “I greatly look forward to
working with Beatrix Ruf. This is an excellent
moment to refresh the artistic DNA and vision
of our Museum, which is at the very core of our
existence.”
Beatrix Ruf: ”I feel very honored, and am very
moved, to be entrusted with the opportunity to
be Director of the Stedelijk Museum and to
lead its extraordinary exhibition history and its
collection into the future, together with the
entire Stedelijk team. Its courageous and
outstanding contemporary as well as art
historical exhibitions and the world-class
collection of modern and contemporary art and
design were always a beacon and example in
my own professional thinking and in numerous
discussions with artists and colleagues. The
Stedelijk Museum is a museum that shows us
how to live in the present and how future can
be built on tradition. I am thrilled to be able to
work with this unique institution, its team and
its collection.”
A selection committee from the Supervisory
Board drew up a profile for the position in
consultation with the staff of the museum.
The Board also sought advice on potential
candidates from both Dutch and foreign
experts. 8 candidates were invited for
interviews. John Leighton, former Director of
the Van Gogh Museum, was involved in the
final phase of the selection process as an
external advisor.
Upon this announcement, Beatrix Ruf will start
her involvement with the Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is supported by:
Principal sponsor
Partner
effective immediately. She will commence
working with the staff on programming and
other matters. In the upcoming months she will
increasingly be involved with the museum and
start settling in Amsterdam. She will join the
Stedelijk Museum fulltime on November 1st.
Brief biography
Beatrix Ruf (Singen, Germany, 1960) has a
rich and diverse career in the international art
world. After completing studies in Psychology,
Ethnology and Art and Cultural Sciences at the
University of Zürich followed by studying at the
Conservatory of Vienna, Ruf worked as a
freelance curator, choreographer and critic.
She served as Curator at Kunstmuseum
Thurgau, Warth from 1994-1998, and was
Director of Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus from
1998-2001.
In 2001, Beatrix Ruf was appointed Director of
Kunsthalle Zürich, overseeing a substantial
expansion project launched in 2003 and
concluded in 2012. She developed an
internationally renowned exhibition program of
solo presentations and group exhibitions.
Wilhelm Sasnal, Keren Cytter, Trisha Donnelly,
Wade Guyton and Seth Price were among the
young talents to receive their first museum
presentation there. Ruf does not shy away
from the experimental, which is clear from the
countless new productions that were realized
during her directorate: John Miller, Richard
Prince, Heimo Zobernig, Isa Genzken, Sarah
Lucas and Rosemarie Trockel among many
others produced ambitious installations
especially for Kunsthalle Zürich.
In Zürich, Ruf also initiated projects of arthistorical relevance, including long-anticipated
survey exhibitions of, among others, Yang
Fudong and Ian Wallace. She also presented
the artistic positions of many significant, yet
lesser-known or ‘forgotten’ artists; often those
of an older or past generation (Lutz Bacher,
Bruce Connor). By presenting their work
generously and at the right moment, Ruf gave
them a well-deserved place in the canon, thus
correcting art history, revealing meaningful
connections between historic and current art
forms. Ruf collaborated with many established
Swiss artists such as Fischli & Weiss, Olivier
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Mosset, Ugo Rondinone, and gave many of
them their first institutional presence, like Urs
Fischer, Valentin Carron and Tobias Madison.
This is a practice she prominently followed in
her programming at large, also with ‘nonWestern’ artists like Christodoulos Panayitou,
Alejandro Cesarco or Yüksel Arslan. During
her tenure in Zürich, Ruf presented art
production in the broadest sense, from local to
regional, national and international.
Together with a wide range of publishing
houses, among them JRP│Ringier (a Swiss
publishing house for art she co-initiated),
Ruf produced a range of extremely important
publications. Her articles and essays on the
work of emerging artists are invaluable in
providing insight and context for developing
oeuvres. Ruf also edited influential art
historical publications including “Mark
Morrisroe”, “Isa Genzken-Werkverzeichnis Bd.
II: 1992-2003”, the catalogue raisonée of
Sarah Lucas or “Yang Fudong: Estranged
Paradise. Works 1993–2013”. Many artists
worked with Ruf to produce notable artist
books, including John Armleder, About
Nothing, and “I love New York, Crazy City”
by Isa Genzken.
Ruf embeds her projects within a network of
prominent international institutions including
the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Tate Liverpool,
the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin,
Witte de With in Rotterdam, Van Abbemuseum
in Eindhoven, Museum of Contemporary Art in
Chicago, the Berkeley Art Museum in San
Francisco and Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
In addition to her directorship in Zürich, Ruf
has also been involved with numerous
prestigious international biennials and
triennials.
In 2006, Ruf was the Curator of the successful
third edition of the Tate Triennial in London, in
2008 Co-Curator of the Yokohama Triennial
and, since 2010, as a member of the think tank
core group of the LUMA foundation, coorganizes projects and group exhibitions in
Arles. Ruf has a remarkably extensive, closeStedelijk Museum Amsterdam is supported by:
Principal sponsor
Partner
knit network that spans continents, disciplines
and generations. Her faultless eye for young
talent and infallible radar for the ‘zeitgeist’
make her an in-demand jury member and
expert for public and independent collections.
For over a decade, as art expert to the Zürichbased collection of the Ringier AG, Ruf has
been instrumental in developing one of
Switzerland’s most important contemporary art
collections. Currently, Ruf is a member of the
Cultural Advisory Board of CERN, a Board
Member of the MUMOK in Vienna and a
Member of the art commission to the Swiss reinsurance Swiss Re. In 2013, Ruf acted as
juror for the Absolut Art Award, and cofounded POOL in Zürich, a new institution and
programme drawing on a ‘pool’ of works from
private collections in order to develop and
encourage emerging curatorial talent through
stipends and exhibition productions. Ruf also
is a mentor for both the University of St. Gallen
and the University of the Arts in Zürich. Over
the last 15 years, Ruf has become widely
acknowledged as one of the most influential
figures in the international art world. The
American journal Art Review has named her
as one of the top-ranking art professionals in
its ‘Power Top 100’ for several years; in 2013,
she was ranked number 7.
Ruf has a clear and inspiring vision of art –
including art collecting and preservation –
artists, and the role that both play in society.
She has an exceptional talent for
communicating her vision to diverse audiences
with great clarity and without compromising the
complexity of the material and is aware of the
importance of education. This, coupled with
her engaging and open way of communicating,
makes her a sought-after speaker, educator
and influential figure in the world of
contemporary art.
Ruf’s art-theoretical program is distinctive,
radical and self-assured. At the Kunsthalle
Zürich, she demonstrated her ability to
translate her enthusiasm and bold vision into a
shared responsibility, making her staff ‘co-own’
her goals and ambitions. Under her 13-year
directorate, Kunsthalle Zürich metamorphosed
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into one of the world’s most eminent art
institutions. Ruf’s transformation of the
Kunsthalle Zürich and the development of the
Löwenbräu Art Center, where it is now located
permanently, was essential to the
development of the city of Zürich into an
internationally-renowned locus of
contemporary art; resulting in numerous and,
in some cases, substantial sponsorship deals.
Ruf also managed Kunsthalle Zürich’s sizeable
renovation project which was brought to
fruition within the budgetary parameters.
During her directorate Ruf expanded the
Kunsthalle, and streamlined the organizational
and financial structures of what is known as
the Löwenbräu Art Centre (a cluster of public
and private institutions housed in industrial
buildings on what is now a heritage site).
Thanks to Ruf’s radical vision and tenacity,
the Kunsthalle Zürich has become a hub
placing it at the very heart of the city, its
diversity of institutions, its universities, its
many affluent collectors, sponsors and
influential galleries, and its local and
international artists.
For further details:
Press Office Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam,
Marie-José Raven and Annematt Ruseler, +31
(0)20 – 573 26 56/60, [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected].
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is supported by:
Principal sponsor
Partner
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