Massimiliano Gioni was born on 1973 and is an Italian curator and contemporary art critic based in New York City, and artistic director at the New Museum.
20 Facts About Massimiliano Gioni
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Massimiliano Gioni is the artistic director of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation in Milan as well as the artistic director of the Beatrice Trussardi Foundation.
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Massimiliano Gioni was born in Busto Arsizio, Italy, in 1973, the youngest of three siblings.
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Massimiliano Gioni graduated in Disciplines of the Arts, Music, and Cinema from the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy at the University of Bologna, Italy.
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In interviews, Massimiliano Gioni has stated that he first came into contact with contemporary art at the age of 13, after reading Lucy Lippard's book, Pop Art.
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In 1997, Massimiliano Gioni joined the contemporary art magazine Flash Art, initially working in the Milan office.
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In 1997, Massimiliano Gioni met Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan whilst interviewing him for Flash Art, striking up a friendship with the older artist.
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Cattelan asked Massimiliano Gioni to act as his doppelganger for press interviews on television and radio, and even some lectures, wherein Massimiliano Gioni would pretend to be Cattelan.
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In 2017, Massimiliano Gioni appeared as a stand-in for the artist during interviews in the documentary Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back.
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Since 2002, Massimiliano Gioni has been directing the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, which he transformed into a nomadic museum that organizes exhibitions by contemporary artists in forgotten buildings, public monuments and abandoned palazzos in the city of Milan.
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In 2006, Massimiliano Gioni joined the New Museum, New York as Director of Special Exhibitions, before being as appointed as the Edlis Neeson Artistic Director in 2014.
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In 2021, Massimiliano Gioni joined the Beatrice Trussardi Foundation as artistic director, expanding his nomadic museum approach with art installations in unexpected locations internationally.
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Massimiliano Gioni has curated numerous international exhibitions and biennials including the 55th Venice Biennale, the 8th Gwangju Biennale, the first New Museum Triennial, the 4th Berlin Biennale and Manifesta 5.
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Massimiliano Gioni was part of the commission of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism that selected Giuseppe Penone's "Leaves of Stone" to be the first contemporary artwork to be permanently installed in the historic center of the city of Rome.
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Also in 2021, Massimiliano Gioni curated Jeff Koons's major solo exhibition "Lost in America" at the Qatar Museum's Al Riwaq gallery in Doha.
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Massimiliano Gioni has contributed to many publications and magazines including Artforum, Flash Art, Frieze, Parkett, Tate Etc.
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Massimiliano Gioni directed the independent art magazines The Wrong Times and Charley alongside Maurizio Cattelan and Ali Subotnick.
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Massimiliano Gioni is the commissioning editor of "2000 Words", a series of monographic books published by the Dakis Joannou Collection and Deste Foundation, with which he has frequently collaborated, curating numerous exhibitions and special projects in Athens.
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Massimiliano Gioni has served as a juror for the Absolut Art Award, BMW Art Journey, Hugo Boss Prize, Mario Merz Prize, Edvard Munch Art Award, Future Generation Art Prize, Preis der Nationalgalerie-Hamburger Bahnhof, Kurt Schwitters Prize, and Vilcek Prize.
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Massimiliano Gioni is married to Cecilia Alemani, a curator and artistic director of the High Line in New York City.