In a recent article in Artforum, Jens Hoffmann, newly appointed director of the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, suggested that the Wattis is one of the few places in the United States where there is a visible investigation into curatorial practice. Hoffmann then went on to say that, during his tenure at CCA, he wants to "build upon this and push the borders of the understanding of curating further."
From 2004 to 2006, Hoffmann was director of exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. He was co-curator of the first Prague Biennale (2003) and the first Tirana Biennale (2001), and was assistant curator of the first Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (1998).
In addition to his role as director of the Wattis, Hoffman is also a faculty member of the MA Program in Curatorial Practice at CCA. This is the first opportunity for the public to hear Hoffmann's thinking on the future of programming at the Wattis.
Bio
Jens Hoffmann
Jens Hoffmann born in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1972, has been director of Exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London since 2004.
At ICA he has organized several group exhibitions including: Artists' Favorite (2004), 100 artists See God (2004-2005), London in Six Easy Steps (2005), Around the World in Eighty Days (2006) and Alien Nation (2006).
He also curated solo exhibitions for John Bock, Cerith Wyn Evans, Tino Sehgal, Jonathan Monk and Martha Rosler.
Hoffmann has worked for institutions and exhibitions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Dia Center for the Arts, New York ; Portikus Kunsthalle, Frankfurt and Documenta X, Kassel. He has curated exhibitions for KIASMA, Helsinki; Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne and Kunst-Werke, Berlin. He was co-curator of 1st Prague Biennial (2003), 1st Tirana Biennial (2001) and assistant curator of the 1st Berlin Biennale (1998).