By Andrew Russeth 4/24 12:10pm

human resources

Christov-Bakargiev. (Courtesy Creative Time)

Documenta 13 Director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev Will Be Visiting Professor at Northwestern University

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, the artistic director of Documenta 13, which took place in Kassel, Germany (and Alexandria, Egypt; Kabul, Afghanistan; and Banff, Canada) last year, has been tapped by Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. to serve as a visiting professor of theory and practice. Her official title: Edith Kreeger Wolf Distinguished Visiting Professor. Ms. Christov-Bakargiev was named the most powerful person in the art world in Art Review‘s 2012 Power 100 rankings, which the school notes in its release. Read More

By Andrew Russeth 10/23/12 5:35pm

documenta 13

Christov-Bakargiev at Documenta 13 with Giuseppe Penone and his sculpture, 'Idee di Pietra.' (Uwe Zucchi/AFP/Getty Images)

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s Coffee Klatsch: Documenta Devotees Take Over Downtown Pâtisserie

LAST MONDAY EVENING, the most important person in the art world was giving a lecture at the Soho pâtisserie Ceci-Cela. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, a sprightly, voluble 54-year-old with a halo of blond corkscrew curls, hadn’t informed Ceci-Cela, and the waitstaff didn’t seem especially happy about her being there. About twenty people had packed into the pâtisserie’s tiny back room, leaving little space for new patrons to sit down. On the plus side, most people were ordering coffee and cakes. One man, apparently not there for Ms. Christov-Bakargiev’s talk on topics like wealth and time, stormed out. Read More

By Sarah Douglas 6/12/12 5:44pm

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Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel 2012 (Courtesy Nils Klinger)

I Did Documenta in a Day

If you were wondering whether or not Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, curator of the 13th edition of the quinquennial art exhibition Documenta, is ambitious, here is all you need to know: she wanted to bring the world’s second-largest meteorite, a 37-ton rock called El Chaco, from Argentina to Kassel, Germany, and park it in front of the Fridericianum, Documenta’s main venue. The project was proposed by the artists Guillermo Faivovich and Nicolas Goldberg. Ms. Christov-Bakargiev wasn’t able to do this—it wasn’t a budget thing, she ran into opposition from members of the Moqoit people of northern Argentina—but she takes care, in her catalog essay to inform you that, had she been able to, “it probably would have been the heaviest single object to have ever in history been transported by humans.” As a curator, she’s into heavy lifting. There are 166 artists in her Documenta, and their artworks are spread over 32 venues throughout the city of Kassel. I tried to see all of them in five hours. Read More

By Andrew Russeth 5/31/12 8:42am

documenta 13

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Samuel Keller. (Courtesy Patrick McMullan Company)

Documenta 13 Director on Her Exhibition: ‘It’s Like an Exploded Museum’

Blake Gopnik of Newsweek/The Daily Beast snagged an interview with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, the artistic director of Documenta 13, and she reveals some of what will be on offer at the exhibition in Kassel, Germany. In keeping with tradition, Ms. Christov-Bakargiev has been pretty much silent on what visitors will see in the show. Though a list of artists leaked earlier this month, the exhibition’s press agent declared it to be “outdated, incomplete, and false.” Read More