New Director of Visual Art Programs Antoine Guerrero announces programs and initiatives for Fall 2012
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s premiere French cultural center, has appointed Antoine Guerrero to the post of Director of Visual Art Programs. This newly created position reflects FIAF’s commitment to an expanded presence in the visual arts, both in New York and internationally.
FIAF President Marie-Monique Steckel said, “We are delighted to welcome Antoine Guerrero to FIAF. Antoine developed PS1 into a world-class arts institution and nurtured the careers of many leading contemporary artists. We look forward to creating exciting new platforms for the visual arts at FIAF, presenting unique exhibitions, and fostering innovative work from both established and emerging international and French artists. Antoine will bring his expertise and talent to the FIAF team and develop it into a prominent and influential destination for the visual arts.”
Antoine Guerrero said, “I am thrilled to join FIAF and work with its talented team to create exhibitions and programs that present original and exciting voices in the visual arts working on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Before joining FIAF, Guerrero enjoyed a long tenure at MoMA PS1 Contemporary Arts Center from 1994–2012, where he held various positions including, most recently, Director of Exhibitions and Operations, and Director of the Artist Residency Program. While at MoMA PS1, Guerrero produced, organized, and designed over 200 exhibitions of international quality and reputation, including the Young Architects Program (YAP), the Warm Up summer music series, and the WPS1 Art Radio boat at two consecutive editions of the Venice Biennale.
Additionally, Guerrero has served as Director of agnès b.’s Galerie du Jour in Paris; Director of Operations and the Artist’s Residency Program at the American Center in Paris; and Front of House Manager and Coordinator of L’École du Magasin, an international curatorial training program for Le Magasin at the National Centre of Contemporary Arts in Grenoble. As a freelance writer, Guerrero has written commentary for Artnet Magazine at Artnet.com and for LUXE IMMO. He has worked widely as a guest curator and coordinator both in New York—collaborating with the New Museum—and internationally. In France, he worked for the city of Arles, the Festival des Allumés de Nantes, the Maison des Arts in Créteil, and the Festival of Maubeuge, as well as in Italy and Switzerland, at the Venice Biennale and the Lausanne Biennale respectively. Guerrero was made Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2003, an award conferred upon him by the Republic of France.
Antoine Guerrero will open the 2012/2013 season of Visual Arts at FIAF with portraits from French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, a site-specific video and sound installation exploring the realms of the musical and the visual, presented as part of FIAF’s highly acclaimed interdisciplinary arts festival Crossing the Line. portraits will run at FIAF’s Gallery from September 14–November 10, 2012.
In November, FIAF will welcome the acclaimed Nice-born, Israel-based artist Brigitte NaHoN with Haim Shelley Part Two: Works from New York to Tel Aviv, an exhibition of small and large-scale sculptures exploring the elusive possibility of balance between tradition and modernity. Using an unlimited variety of materials, NaHoN investigates the concept of perfect balance in an unbalanced world, weaving conflicting characteristics—heaviness and lightness, strength and fragility, transparency and darkness—together to create a harmonious whole. Haim Shelley Part Two will run at FIAF’s Gallery from November 28, 2012–January 12, 2013.
Additionally FIAF is proud to present In Situ, a new initiative to bring visual arts to the entire FIAF building. FIAF will invite two to three artists each year to create works in under-utilized spaces within FIAF. Françoise Pétrovitch, whose exhibit Inklings was presented at FIAF’s Gallery in the spring of 2012, will return this fall to create the inaugural installation.
About the Visual Arts at FIAF
Since its opening in April 2007, the FIAF exhibition space has been an invaluable addition to the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and its cultural programs. It provides a significant platform for cultural discourse between American and Francophone artists and cultures.
About FIAF
FIAF’s mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression.
