Lynn Zelevansky
{{short description|American art historian and curator (born 1947)}}
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{{Infobox artist
| name = Lynn Zelevansky
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| birth_place = New York City
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| nationality = American
| known_for = Curator, Museum Director
| education = Pratt Institute, New York University
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Lynn Zelevansky (born 1947) is an American art historian and curator. Formerly Henry Heinz II Director of the Carnegie Museum of Art, she is currently based in New York City.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-architecture/2017/09/08/Lynn-Zelevansky-The-Henry-J-Heinz-II-Director-of-Carnegie-Museum-of-Art-is-resigning-down/stories/201709080095|title = Lynn Zelevansky, director of Carnegie Museum of Art, is stepping down|website=Post-gazette.com}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.artagencypartners.com/lynn-zelevansky-interview/ |title="Awareness Seems to Happen in Waves" – Art Agency, Partners |access-date=2018-03-24 |archive-date=2018-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325045209/http://www.artagencypartners.com/lynn-zelevansky-interview/ |url-status=dead }} Zelevansky curated "Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama" (1998) and "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form" (2004) for Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1995 to 2009. While working at MoMA (1987–1995), she curated “Sense and Sensibility: Women Artists and Minimalism in the Nineties” (1994), that institution's first all-female exhibition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/24/arts/review-art-space-is-spare-for-women-s-work-at-the-modern.html|title=Review/Art; Space Is Spare for Women's Work at the Modern|first=Roberta|last=Smith|date=24 June 1994|access-date=11 December 2021|website=The New York Times}} AICA awarded it "Best Emerging Art Exhibition New York."
Early life and education
Zelevansky was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her father worked in the insurance and real estate business. She attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School through high school, graduating in 1965. She met her future husband Paul Zelevansky during her first week at Carnegie Institute of Technology.{{cite web|url=http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/museums/s_719295.html|title=Carnegie director Lynn Zelevansky works on her balancing act|website=Triblive.com|access-date=11 December 2021}} They married in 1968, but she transferred to Pratt Institute, where she graduated with a BFA in Photography in 1971.{{cite web|url=http://artdaily.com/news/30627/Lynn-Zelevansky-Named-The-Henry-J--Heinz-II-Director-of-Carnegie-Museum-of-Art|title=Lynn Zelevansky Named The Henry J. Heinz II Director of Carnegie Museum of Art|website=Artdaily.com|access-date=11 December 2021}} Following graduation, she worked as a photographer and free-lance critic, reviewing photography and art exhibitions for various publications. During this period, she also taught photography and criticism at Pratt, Cooper Union, and the New School. In 1984, with two children (born in 1974 and 1977) at home,{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives|title=Archives|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 December 2021}} she began the graduate program at NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, earning her MA in 1987, and later completing coursework towards her doctorate.{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/7259/releases/MOMA_1994_0045_29-3.pdf?2010|format=PDF|title=The Museum of Modern Art : Lynn Zelevansky|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} During her studies, Zelevansky co-curated exhibitions for Pratt Institute and Camerawork.
Curatorial career
In 1986, Zelevansky joined MoMA's Department of Painting and Sculpture as a curatorial assistant and remained there until 1995.
While at MoMA, she assisted William Rubins on "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism,"{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/7051/releases/MOMA_1992_0059_48.pdf?2010|format=PDF|title=The Museum of Modern Art : PUBLISHES PICASSO AND BRAQUE: A SYMPOSIUM|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} for which she edited the second volume of the catalog, and on the Ad Reinhardt exhibition{{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/6993/releases/MOMA_1992_0001_1.pdf?2010|format=PDF|title=The Museum of Modern Art : PUBLISHES FIRST ISSUE OF STUDIES IN MODERN ART|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} and assisted on exhibitions of the work of Vito Acconci,{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2156_300189464.pdf|title=The Museum of Modern Art : Vito Acconci, public places|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} and Robert Ryman.{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_405_300063098.pdf|title=The Museum of Modern Art : Robert Ryman|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} In addition to curating “Sense and Sensibility,"Johanna Drucker. "Sense and Sensibility: Women Artists and Minimalism in the Nineties." Third Text. Summer. 1994. pp. 103–107. she organized Projects exhibitions for: Houston Conwill,{{Cite web|url=http://moma.org/d/c/exhibition_catalogues/W1siZiIsIjMwMDA2Mjk1NSJdLFsicCIsImVuY292ZXIiLCJ3d3cubW9tYS5vcmcvY2FsZW5kYXIvZXhoaWJpdGlvbnMvMjExOSIsImh0dHA6Ly9tb21hLm9yZy9jYWxlbmRhci9leGhpYml0aW9ucy8yMTE5P2xvY2FsZT1lcyIsImkiXV0.pdf?sha=ce9c4ef4c278430b|title=MoMA Conwill exhibition brochure|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} Cildo Meireles,{{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2110_300062971.pdf|title=MoMA Meireles exhibition brochure|website=Moma.org|access-date=11 December 2021}}Lawrence Wechsler. "Cries from the Wilderness.' Art News. Summer 1990. Guillermo Kuitca,[https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_345_300063035.pdf MoMA Kuitca brochure], Moma.org Suzanne Lafont,[https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_376_300063066.pdf MoMA Lafont brochure], Moma.org and Gabriel Orozco.[https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_403_300063096.pdf MoMA Orozco brochure], Moma.org
Zelevansky was awarded a 1995 Peter Norton Family Foundation Curator's Grant.Judith Michaelson. "Morning Report." Los Angeles Times. September 8, 1995. In 1997, Zelevansky was the keynote speaker at Teachers College "Women in Arts and Culture"Sabrina Rojas Weiss. 'TC Symposium Celebrates Female Artistic Progress'. Columbia Spectator February 3, 1997. p. 8
In 1995 Zelevansky became Assistant Curator in the department of Modern and Contemporary Art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, eventually becoming the Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head, Contemporary Art{{cite web|last1=Thomas|first1=M.|title=Lynn Zelevansky, director of Carnegie Museum of Art, is stepping down|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-architecture/2017/09/08/Lynn-Zelevansky-The-Henry-J-Heinz-II-Director-of-Carnegie-Museum-of-Art-is-resigning-down/stories/201709080095|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=17 March 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/lynn-zelevansky-to-step-down-as-director-of-carnegie-museum-of-art-71026|title=Artforum.com|website=Artforum.com|date=8 September 2017 |access-date=11 December 2021}}
While at LACMA, she and Laura Hoptman co-curated the first US museum survey of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.[https://eastofborneo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/momacatalogue216300025595.pdf Kusama 1958–1968 catalog], Eastofborneo.org She also organized a retrospective for Robert Therrien,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebroad.org/art/robert-therrien|title=Robert Therrien – Bio | The Broad|website=Thebroad.org|access-date=11 December 2021}} and Diego Rivera.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/entertainment-july-dec99-diego_7-15 |title=An Artistic Revolution: Diego Rivera | PBS NewsHour |website=PBS |access-date=2018-01-21 |archive-date=2018-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122001152/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/entertainment-july-dec99-diego_7-15 |url-status=dead }} During this period, she originated several group exhibitions such as "Longing and Memory" (1997), "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form" (2004), and "Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea" (2009).{{Cite web|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/06/korean-lacma.html|title=Review: 'Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea' at LACMA|website=Latimesblogs.latimes.com|date=28 June 2009|access-date=11 December 2021}} Michael Kimmelman called "Beyond Geometry" a "creative rethinking of the history of postwar vanguard art in the West"[http://events.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/arts/design/02KIMM.html?pagewanted=all&position=] {{dead link|date=December 2021}} and AICA awarded it "Best Thematic Exhibition Nationally."[http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=12026&b=eccles#.WraXZIjwbIU] {{dead link|date=December 2021}} On the occasion of "Beyond Geometry," the J. Paul Getty Museum hosted the symposium "Structures and Systems: An Intercontinental Art World."{{Cite web |url=http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/structures_and_systems.html |title=Structures and Systems (Getty Press Release) |access-date=2018-03-24 |archive-date=2017-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210074302/http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/structures_and_systems.html |url-status=dead }}
In 2009, Zelevansky became Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Carnegie Museum of Art.During her tenure at CMOA, she collaborated with Elisabeth Sussman on "Paul Thek: Diver"{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/arts/design/22thek.html|title=Paul Thek Retrospective at the Whitney Museum|last=Cotter|first=Holland|date=2010-10-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-02-03|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and together with Sussman and James Rondeau on "Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium".{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/visual-arts/h-lio-oiticica/cocaine-art-eden-and-sex-at-moma/|title=Cocaine Art, Eden and Sex at MoMA|date=29 January 2017|website=Pastemagazine.com|access-date=11 December 2021}} Zelevansky oversaw the 2013 presentation of the Carnegie International, which highlighted the intersections of contemporary international art and activism and demonstrated the ways the Carnegie International (since 1896) had influenced its collection.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Roberta|title=Global Extravaganza, but on a Human Scale The Carnegie International Keeps Its Survey Small|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/arts/design/the-carnegie-international-keeps-its-survey-small.html?action=click&contentCollection=Art%20%26%20Design&pgtype=imageslideshow&module=RelatedArticleList®ion=CaptionArea&version=SlideCard-1|access-date=17 March 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 October 2013}} After leaving the Carnegie, Zelevansky returned to her native New York City to work as an independent art historian, writer, and curator. She recently curated [https://www.galleriesnow.net/shows/leon-polk-smith-prairie-moon/ Leon Polk Smith: Prairie Moon] for Lisson Gallery in New York and [https://artdaily.com/news/140315/The-Fundaci-n-Juan-March-Presents-the-First-Ad-Reinhardt-Exhibition-in-Spain#.Yo_RRxPMIlI Art is Art and Everything Else is Everything Else] at the Fundacion Juan March in Madrid.
Publications
- Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium. Whitney Museum of American Art. 2016. {{ISBN|9783791355221}}
- Paul Thek: The Diver. Whitney Museum of American Art. Carnegie Museum of Art. 2011. {{ISBN|9780300165951}}
- Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. June 23, 2009. {{ISBN|0300146892}}
- Cildo Mereiles. Tate Modern/DAP. February 1, 2009. {{ISBN|9781933045917}}
- PBCAM/LACMA/2008: The Broad Contemporary Art Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. April 1, 2008. {{ISBN|0875871976}}
- François Morellet. Annely Juda Fine Art. 2008. {{ISBN|1904621228}}
- François Morellet''. Musée des Beaux Arts, Angers. 2006. {{ISBN|2901287999}}
- Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form, 1940s–1970s. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. June 1, 2004. {{ISBN|0262240475}}
- Keith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett: Recasting Pygmalion. Rizzoli. December 13, 2002. {{ISBN|0847824403}}
- Robert Therrien. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. February 1, 2000. {{ISBN|0875871860}}
- Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama, 1958–1968. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. April 2, 1998. {{ISBN|087587181X}}
- Sense and Sensibility: Women Artists and Minimalism in the Nineties. Museum of Modern Art. April 10, 1995. {{ISBN|0870701207}}
- Robert Ryman. Tate Gallery. London. 1993. {{ISBN|1854371142}}
- Picasso and Braque: A Symposium. Harry N Abrams Inc. October 1, 1992. {{ISBN|0810961172}}
- Guillermo Kuitca. Newport Harbor Art Museum. 1992.
- Products and Promotion: Art, Advertising and the American Dream. SF Camerawork. 1986.
- Art is Art and Everything Else is Everything Else. Fundacion Juan March. March 15, 2022. {{ISBN |9788470756689}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-architecture/2017/09/08/Lynn-Zelevansky-The-Henry-J-Heinz-II-Director-of-Carnegie-Museum-of-Art-is-resigning-down/stories/201709080095 Lynn Zelevansky, director of Carnegie Museum of Art, is stepping down, M. Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 8, 2017]
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Category:American art curators