Education

Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovakia

  • B.A., Art History and History, 1966
  • M.A., Art History, 1968

Professional Experience

The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

  • John and Barbara Vogelstein Chair and Curator of Contemporary Art: May 2006 – July 2007
  • Chair, Department of Painting and Sculpture (rotating): January 1992 – April 2006
  • Curator of Contemporary Art: January 1985 – April 2006
  • Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings: April 1984 – December 1984
  • Consulting Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings: October 1983 – April 1984

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

  • Curator: 1981 – 1983
  • Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings: 1979 – 1980
  • Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings: 1977 – 1979
  • Curatorial Researcher: 1971 – 1977. Intern: 1970 – 1971

National Institute for Preservation and Reconstruction of Architectural Landmarks, Prague

  • Associate Curator: 1969 – 1970
  • Assistant Curator: 1967 – 1969

National Gallery, Prague

  • Curatorial Assistant, Asian Department: 1961 – 1964

Teaching Positions

School of Visual Arts, New York and Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design, Prague

  • Instructor, Department of Art History

State University of New York at Buffalo

  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History: 1979 – 1983

Empire State College, Buffalo

  • Tutor in Fine Arts: 1976 – 1983

Professional Associations

  • International Advisory Board, Centers for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Board of Directors, Visual Arts, Art OMI, Ghent, NY – NYC, NY
  • Board of Directors of The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc., New York
  • Board of Directors, CityArts Workshop, Inc., New York
  • Board od Directors, Young Artist’s Award – Chalupecky Award, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Advisory Board, Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn, New York
  • Board of Directors, Leon Park Smith Foundation, New York, New York

Awards and Honors

2018

Doctor Honoris Causa, Theory and History of Art, UMPRUM, Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague. 

Grand Prix, for achievements in contemporary arts, Art Association Skutek

2016

Award from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic for the Lifelong Contribution to the Field of Visual Arts

1992

Appointed United States Commissioner to organize the presentation of Louise Bourgeois in the United States Pavilion at the 45th Venice Biennale, 1993.

1991

Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in contemporary art for the exhibition “The Play of the Unmentionable” by Joseph Kosuth.

Selected Publications

“Four Artists: Two Painters, Two Sculptors” an Exhibition co-curated with Hanne Tierney for FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY, January 16 – February 21, 2021

“Artists as Activists” in Slovo Bulletin of National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2020. 

“Trajectory: Five Myles,” an Exhibition organized for FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY, October 19 – December 15, 2019

“Threads That Connect Us” Essay for the publication, Remy Jungerman: Where the River Runs, Published by Jap Sams Books, Heijningen, Netherlands, 2019.

“Three Artists, One Family/ Japan, New York” essay for Yoda Family exhibition catalogue, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, Tokyo, Japan, Summer 2019.

“TALK TO ME: Adéla Matasová and Forms of Communication”. Essay for INTERFACE 2014-2017, Published by Koncepce / Concept, by Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, 2019.

“Traces of History and radical Innovation in the Paintings by Mariela Bisson”, catalogue essay for Bisson’s exhibition at the Momentum Gallery, Ashewille, North Carolina, Summer, 2019.

“Politicizing Space”: The Equestrian Sculpture”, catalogue essay for The Old Gods at Geary Contemporary, September 6 – October 12, 2018. 

“Drawings in the Time of Resistance”, essay for the exhibition Kellie O’Dempsey & Jennifer Wroblewski / Resistance Movement, Kentler International Drawing Space, 2017.

“Dangerous Symbols”, catalogue essay about Michael David’s The Golem, for an exhibition Golem at the Jewish Museum, Berlin, September 2016 – January 2017.

“Painting and Politics” in Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, New York. August 3 – October 28.

“Childhoods Stolen Stolen at Gunpoint”, Tehelka, English & Hindi news e-magazine, 2016. 

“The Hair Allure”, essay for Marble Index, Marit Folstad, published by Teknisk Industri AS, Oslo, 2016.

“Shooting Film” Guernica, Magazine of Art and Politics, April 2014.

“The Strange and the Beautiful in the work of Aideen Barry.”, Catalogue essay for Changing Tracks, public project installed in Ireland, Great Britain and Spain, June 2014.

“Photography, Gender and the Use of Text.” Symposium Between the Signs at Fotograf Festival. Prague, Czech Republic. October 2013.

“Pepfog Clufff’s Adventures in Painting.” From Eyes and C – notes to Pepfog with Books. Exhibition brochure. Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY. 2009.

“Post – Totalitarian Art” Eastern and Central Europe.” Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art. New York: The Brooklyn Museum, 2007.

“A Few Droplets of Wisdom.” Words of Wisdom: A Curator’s Vade Mecum on Contemporary Art. New York: Independent Curators International, 2001.

“Chakaia Booker.” Chakaia Booker: New Sculptures. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Stevens/Bandes, 2001.

“Equation of the Second Degree.” Sarah Stengle. Exhibition catalogue. Pennsylvania: Lehigh University, 2000.

“Inside Out.” ARTnews. May 1999 Volume 98/Number 5, pp. 129.

“The Legacy of Signs: Reflections on Adolph Gottlieb’s Pictographs.” The Pictographs of Adolph Gottlieb. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc, 1994.

Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory: Works 1982 – 1993. Exhibition catalogue. New York: The Brooklyn Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994.

Introduction. The Play of the Unmentionable: An Installation by Joseph Kosuth at The Brooklyn Museum. New York: The New Press in association with The Brooklyn Museum, 1991, pp. xi – xv.

“Leger in America.” Fernand Leger. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Albright – Knox Art Gallery and Abbeville Press, 1982, pp. 41 – 59.

Selected Exhibitions

2021

“Four Artists: Two Painters, Two Sculptors” an Exhibition co-curated with Hanne Tierney for FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY, January 16 – February 21, 2021. 

Finding Art Miles Away From the Expected, New York Times. 

2020

Artists as Activists, an exhibition organized for the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Spring –Summer 2020

2019

Trajectory: Five Myles, an Exhibition organized for FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY, October 19 – December 15, 2019

2018

Krištof Kintera: Do Not Litter, Do Not Feed Birds and Do Not Push the Help Button (Yet), Czech Center, New York, NY. November 16 – December 6, 2018

Remy Jungerman: Based In, Robert Henry Contemporary, New York, NY. October 26 – December 21, 2018

2017

Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, New York. August 3 – October 28, Participated in the organization of the exhibition and wrote catalogue essay.

Politicizing Space, Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York, NY. February 1 – March 31

Lucille Bertrand: Travelers and Strangers, Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY. September 8 – October 22, 2017

2016

20th Anniversary Show, Smack Mellon Gallery, New York, NY. November 12 – December 31

Elizabeth Enders, Come In!, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT. September 26, 2015 – January 3, 2016

2015

Transformed Viewpoints / A.I.R. Gallery National Artists’ Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY. February 5 – March 1

Courage of an Artist / Selected Works by Vojtech Preissig, Czech Center Gallery, New York, March 3 – May 8

Robert Lobe’s Field Studies, Mohonk Preserve, New Paltz, NY. April 18 – October 17

Introducing Romana Drdová / The Overlook, Trade Fair Palace, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. June 26 – September 20

Trace/Matter, an exhibition curated for FiveMyles, Brooklyn, October 10 – November 8, brochure

25 Years of Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY, November 13 – December 20

2014

Peter Sis: Cartography of the Mind, Czech Center Gallery, New York, NY. May 8 – September 1

Dominik Lang, Boards and Tables, Czech Center, New York, September 10 – October 29

2012

Marie Sivak/Smokescreen, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY. September 6-30.

The Expanding Mall, cont’d: Jennifer Protas and Kami Dorell. Gallery Skolska 28, Prague, CZ. March 2012

11th National Drawing Invitational: New York, Singular Drawings, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas. April 20 – September 9, brochure

Wide Open, Juror for Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition National Show, Brooklyn, NY. March 18 – April 1

Will to Create Will to Live: The Culture of Terezin, 92nd Street Y, New York, NY. January 9 – February 16

2011

Marking Space/ a collaborative drawing, performance and sound project, organized for Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY, September 16 – October 23, brochure

ARBORETUM / Barbara Siegel, an exhibition organized for A.I.R.Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. November 2 – 26, brochure

2010

War & Peace, an exhibition co-organized with curator Florence Neal, for Kentler International Drawing Space. Brooklyn, NY

2009

Elizabeth Enders: Landscape, Language, Line. Mid-career exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut, March 7 through August 23, 2009

2008

Structured Incidents, an exhibition organized for the A.I.R. Gallery, New York

2006

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990-2005, exhibition organized for the Brooklyn Museum.

Graffiti, exhibition curated for the Brooklyn Museum.

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson: Symphonic Poem, coordinating Curator of the New York venue of this exhibition.

2005

Romare Bearden, an exhibition curated for the Brooklyn Museum.

2004

Open House: Working in Brooklyn, an exhibition curated for the Brooklyn Museum. Catalogue. 

14 Stations: Photographed by David Michalek, an exhibition co-curated for the Brooklyn Museum.

2003

Abstractions, an exhibition curated for the Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA.

2001

My Reality_Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation, coordinating Curator of the New York venue of the exhibition.

2000

Lee Krasner, coordinating Curator of the New York venue of the exhibition.

1999

Domestic Transformations: Working in Brooklyn, a Lobby Gallery installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Beyond Technology: Working in Brooklyn, a Lobby Gallery installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Mariko Mori: Empty Dream, an exhibition organized for the Brooklyn Museum.

Sensation: Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection, coordinating Curator of the American venue of this exhibition.

1998

Kerry James Marshall: Mementos, an installation coordinated for the Brooklyn venue in conjunction with The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. Brochure.

New Orleans Triennial 1998, an exhibition organized for the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana. Catalogue.

Section 33, an exhibition organized for the D.U.M.B.O. Arts Center, Brooklyn, New York.

Scattered Petals, Fallen Leaves, Shards of Glass: The Work of Bing Hu, a Lobby Gallery installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1997

Current Undercurrent: Working in Brooklyn, a Lobby Gallery installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Socrates International 97, an exhibition organized for Socrates Sculpture Park, City of New York Recreation Department.

1996

The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Drawings by Glenn Ligon, a Lobby Gallery installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Rona Pondick: Mine, a Grand Lobby installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum in cooperation with BAM Artists in Action program. Brochure.

1995

Alison Saar: The Woods Within, a Grand Lobby installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

The Pictographs of Adolph Gottlieb, coordinated the Brooklyn venue of the exhibition organized by the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc., New York. Catalogue.

1994

Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, an expanded version of Louise Bourgeois: Recent Work, an exhibition curated for the United States Pavilion at the 45th Venice Biennale. Catalogue. Traveled to Museé d’Art Modern, Paris; Gallerie Rudolfinum, Prague; Deichtorhallen, Hamburg.

1994

Impermanent Places: Seven Installations from Prague, an exhibition in conjunction with the Celebrate Prague Festival, World Financial Center, New York

1993

Patrice Caire: Crash! Art Implants Reject Emotions (CAIRE), a Grand Lobby installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Louise Bourgeois: Recent Work, an exhibition curated for the United States Pavilion at the 45th Venice Biennale. Brochure.

Ida Applebrook: Everything is Fine, a Grand Lobby installation organized for the Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1992

Jin Soo Kim: Tacit Transit, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1991

Chris Burden: Medusa’s Head, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1990

Joseph Kosuth: The Brooklyn Museum Collection: The Play of the Unmentionable, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Working in Brooklyn: Installations, an exhibition curated for The Brooklyn Museum. Catalogue.

Czech Modernism: 1990-1945, coordinated the Brooklyn venue of the exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

1989

Petah Coyne: Untitled, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1988

Martin Puryear, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Jenny Holzer: Signs and Benches, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

1987

Alexis Smith: Same Old Paradise, a Grand Lobby installation organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Brochure.

Working In Brooklyn: Painting, an exhibition curated for The Brooklyn Museum. Catalogue.

1986

Third Western States Biennal, an exhibition organized for The Brooklyn Museum. Traveled to six venues throughout the United States. Catalogue.

1985

Working in Brooklyn: Sculpture, an exhibition curated for The Brooklyn Museum. Catalogue.

1984

Richard Smith: Deerbrook Sequence, the first in the series of Grand Lobby installations organized for The Brooklyn Museum.

1982

Fernand Leger: Retrospective, an exhibition organized for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Traveled to the Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas. Catalogue published by Abbeville Press.

John Cage: Scores and Prints, an exhibition co-curated with Anne d’Harnoncourt and Patterson Sims for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and Philadelphia Museum of Art.

1981

Figures: Forms and Expressions, an exhibition co-curated and co-organized for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, HALLWALLS and CEPA. Catalogue.

1977

Projects/Performances-Czechoslovakia/Poland, an exhibition organized for HALLWALLS Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Catalogue.

Articles & Reviews

 
C.Kotik C.V.