Beatrix Ruf Wins ICI’s Agnes Gund Curatorial Award

Beatrix Ruf, the director of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, has been selected as the 2015 recipient of Independent Curators International’s Agnes Gund Curatorial Award, which “is presented every other year to an established curator for their outstanding contribution to the world of art.”

Ruff has been a closely watched tastemaker for years, and prior to joining the Stedelijk she served as director of Kunsthalle Zurich from 2001 to 2014, where she organized shows with a wide array of artists, including Isa Genzken, Laura Owens, Frances Stark, and Avery Singer.

From ICI’s release:

Over the years, Beatrix Ruf has shown unwavering support of artists, helping define many careers. She has followed her trust in the experimental, and consistently nurtured emerging art practice, giving several young artists their first museum exhibitions and commissions.

The award, which is named for the New York philanthropist Agnes Gund, has previously gone to Lynne Cooke, Alanna Heiss, and Germano Celant, among others.

In other Gund news, yesterday the Association of Art Museum directors posted a video of a conversation about diversity in the arts between Gund and the Ford Foundation’s president, Darren Walker, which is worth a look. It follows below.