BREAKING NEWS: Departure of Artistic Director of Art Brussels, Katerina Gregos

“Artistic Director of Art Brussels, Katerina Gregos, has decided to return to her curatorial activities” says the press release (read below)

Our readers know we usually don’t do “hot News” at be-Art magazine, but that one concerns a major art fair in Europe, Art Brussels, important enough to be mentioned. (Art Brussels is organized by Easyfairs).  The competition is hard within the different brands of art fairs in Europe. Frieze, FIAC, ARCO, Art Brussels not only compete between them but they have to position themselves with regards to the excellent artfairs in NY and Miami or those brand new very attractive art fairs that arose in Mexico or Columbia. Was the pressure to hard on Gregos shoulders?

Gregos was appointed as Artistic Director of Art Brussels in 2012. As an art historian and curator, she has been responsible for the fair’s artistic programming, sat on the fair’s Selection and Discovery committees, and contributed to Art Brussels’ renewed international recognition. Over the last four years, under Gregos’ tenure as Artistic Director, the fair has undergone significant curatorial developments, including the redesign of its architecture each year.

Other pioneering initiatives that Art Brussels has staged since 2012 include the introduction of not-for-profit spaces, a discursive programme, performances and concerts by artists on THE STAGE and Artists’ Film Premieres, extra muros, in collaboration with the Brussels Arts Centre Beursschouwburg. In addition, in collaboration with Flanders Art Institute, Gregos set up a specially conceived Curator’s Programme to complement the fair’s VIP Programme.

The flagship project at Art Brussels 2016 is Cabinet d’ Amis: the accidental collection of Jan Hoet. The exhibition, curated by Gregos, will showcase selected works from the collection of the late, internationally renowned, Belgian curator, Jan Hoet.

Managing Director of Art Brussels Anne Vierstraete says, ‘as a specialist in contemporary art, Katerina has nourished the fair with her extensive knowledge, expertise and international network. Her contribution has resulted in a very interesting evolution for Art Brussels, confirming and consolidating its specificity as a discovery fair, which we will build on through the continuation of the fair’s strong curatorial profile over the coming years. In light of this, it is very probable that we will collaborate with Katerina as a curator on special projects in the future.’

During her time at Art Brussels Gregos continued to curate significant international exhibitions and biennials, among which, most recently, the highly successful Belgian Pavilion at the 56^th Venice Biennale and the critically acclaimed 5^th Thessaloniki Biennial (both 2015).

About Katerina Gregos

Katerina Gregos is an art historian, curator, writer and lecturer based in Brussels since 2006. She has curated numerous international exhibitions and biennials including, most recently, the Belgian Pavilion at the 56^th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2015); the 5th Thessaloniki Biennial (2015) and No Country for Young Men: Contemporary Art from Greece in times of crisis, BOZAR, Brussels (2014). Other exhibitions include The Politics of Play, for the 7th Göteborg Biennial and Liquid Assets: In the Aftermath of the Transformation of Capital, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, (2013); Newtopia: The State of Human Rights, Mechelen & Brussels and Manifesta 9 (2012); Speech Matters, the Danish Pavilion, 54^th Venice Biennale and the 4^th Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen Heidelberg (2011). Previously, Gregos was the Founding Director and curator of the Deste Foundation’s Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens, as well as Artistic Director of Argos – Centre for Art & Media, Brussels.