Art Basel just announced that Vincenzo de Bellis, presently Curator and Associate Director of Programs, Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center, has been appointed to the new global position of Director, Fairs and Exhibition Platforms, effective August 2022. In this new role, de Bellis will oversee the leadership teams of Art Basel’s four shows in Basel, Paris, Hong Kong, and Miami Beach, as well as spearhead new events and initiatives in the physical realm. Reporting directly to Global Director Marc Spiegler, de Bellis will play an integral role in Art Basel’s future development and extend its presence in new markets through activities complementary to the core business of staging the world’s leading art fairs.
Vincenzo de Bellis is currently Curator and Associate Director of Programs, Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. From 2012 to 2016 de Bellis was Artistic Director of Miart, the Milan International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art. During his tenure, the fair went from being a regional showcase with 90 exhibitors to a truly international platform featuring 180 galleries, embedded within a vibrant city-wide program of cultural events under the banner of Milan Art Week. From 2009 to 2016, De Bellis served as Founding Director and Curator of Peep-Hole Art Center in Milan. He is the Curator of the first two editions of Panorama, the itinerant exhibition held by Italics, a consortium of over sixty of Italy’s leading art galleries. De Bellis also co-curated the inaugural edition of Noor Riyadh, an annual festival of light and art consisting of public art installations across Riyadh.
‘I am delighted to welcome Vincenzo to our team and look forward to working with him to further strengthen our shows in Basel, Paris, Hong Kong, and Miami Beach, as well as developing new formats that extend Art Basel’s engagement beyond our fairs,’ says Marc Spiegler, Global Director, Art Basel. ‘He brings to us an artworld experience that ranges across fairs, institutions, and one-off events – alongside a dynamic and innovative mentality that is very well-suited to a moment that requires us to constantly consider new roles amid new realities.’
Carey Young’s Declared Void II (2013), as installed in I am you, you are too. Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Gene Pittman
‘Throughout my twenty years in the artworld, I have always welcomed, enjoyed, and looked for new challenges,’ says Vincenzo de Bellis. ‘I’m honored to join Art Basel and look forward to working closely with Marc Spiegler and the leadership teams of the four shows. I’m also excited to expand the spectrum of exhibition platforms to further explore ways in which Art Basel can provide opportunities of exchange between local and global art scenes and communities of artists, gallerists, collectors, art institutions, as well as present and future art lovers.’
Installation view of Nairy Baghramian: Déformation Professionnelle. Photo: Gene Pittman for Walker Art Center
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through new digital platforms and a number of new initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, Intersections: The Art Basel Podcast and the BMW Art Journey. Art Basel’s Global Media Partner is The Financial Times.
