The sequel of the 2014 bestseller “
(Curating) From A to Z,” this book extends Jens Hoffmann's investigation of curatorial practice. Employing a diarist style, he completes his personal curatorial alphabet with a similar transparency, and the same idiosyncratic character revealed in many of his exhibitions. The entries are stimulating and intellectually rigorous, as well as being emotionally engaging.
Running in reverse order, each letter of the alphabet evokes a particular word related to the world of exhibition making: from S (as in Scenography) and R (as in Relational) to E (as in Education) and D (as in Durational). “(Curating) From Z to A” thus offers a summary of the development of curatorial practice over the last two decades seen through the eyes of one of his leading practitioners.
The concepts deciphered in this volume are Zero; Yesterday; Xenophobia; Work; Venice Biennale; Utopia; TATE; Scenography; Relational; Quantity; Publication; Others; Norm; Modern; Lucy Lippard; Kunsthalle; Jury; Idiosyncratic; Humor; Gentrification; Feminism; Education; Durational; Commodity; Black Box; and Artificial.
Jens Hoffmann (born 1974 in San Jose, Costa Rica) is a writer, exhibition maker, and educator. He currently is Deputy Director of The Jewish Museum, New York. He has published widely in journals and museum publications and has written over 200 texts on art and exhibition making over the last 15 years. His most recent books include “The Studio” (2012), as well as “Show Time: A History of Exhibitions” (2014). He is the founder and editor of “The Exhibitionist: Journal on Exhibition Making.” Most recently he co-curated the 9th Shanghai Biennial (2012/13) and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011).
