MEET CHRISTIAN RATTENMEYER
SculptureCenter
of Courtesy BY BILL PARRY
SculptureCenter in Long Island City ap-pointed
Christian Rattemeyer as its new
director after 12 years as the associate
curator at the Museum of Modern Art.
Rattemeyer will oversee all exhibi-tions
and programming and continue to
38 JULY 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com lead the institution that is respected for its independent
vision, intellectual rigor and dedication to commission-ing
new work by emerging and established artists.
“SculptureCenter was established by artists and
continues to foster and promote living artists working
all over the world,” Rattemeyer said. “The museum leads
the conversation in contemporary art and has been
a cultural pioneer in Long Island City. Its outstanding
program has served and inspired a unique community
of artists and colleagues. As a curator who has worked
globally and values international dialogue, I hope to
work with the museum’s dedicated team and board to
strengthen our partnerships and engagement abroad,
and deepen the opportunities we provide for our artists
and our audiences.”
SculptureCenter was originally founded in 1928 and
moved into an old trolley car repair factory on Purves
Street in 2001. In 2013 it underwent an expansion
and renovation under Director Mary Ceruti, who is
now executive director of the Walker Arts Center in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“All of us at SculptureCenter are very pleased
to have Christian Rattemeyer as our new director
and truly excited about what lies ahead under his
leadership,” SculptureCenter Board Chair Andreas
Beroutsos said. “Christian’s deep and geographically
broad roots in art history and contemporary art, his
curatorial record of creative and insightful choices as
well as insatiable interest into artistic innovation, the
respect he commands among his peers, his institutional
leadership qualities, and genuine focus on teamwork
and people-and-artist development, made Christian the
logical choice to lead SculptureCenter into the future.”
Rattemeyer began his career as an artists’ assistant
at the ninth edition of Documenta in his hometown of
Kassel, Germany, in 1992. In 1997, he founded and
served as gallery director of Osmos, a contemporary
project space in Berlin, which is now located in New
York, and he was co-curator of the third and fourth In-ternational
Biennials for Film and Architecture in Berlin.
He relocated to New York in 2003 and joined Artists
Space as curator, where he worked for four years.
“Christian has been a friend and supporter of
SculptureCenter for nearly two decades, and we are
so thrilled that he will be our new director,” Sculp-tureCenter
Board President Carol Bove said. “He
is a passionate idealist who also brings practical
institution-building skills and strategic insight to re-inforce
our strength as a platform for radical thought
and practice. From his experiences gathered around
the world, his long tenure in New York, and his solid
history championing distinct voices, he will be a unify-ing
force allowing SculptureCenter’s artistic energy
to reverberate in a pivotal moment in our culture, as
well as foster our mission to protect a free space for
creativity unencumbered by market forces.”
Rattemeyer takes over SculptureCenters on Nov. 1.
Feature
LIC SculptureCenter names longtime MoMA curator as new leader
MoMA Curator Christian Rattemeyer will
bring his talents across the East River
now that ScultureCenter in Long Island
City appointed him as new director.
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