Cecilia Alemani

Born in Italy, Alemani received her BA in philosophy from the University of Milan and her MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College.[5]

From 2012 to 2017, Alemani curated Frieze Projects, the nonprofit platform of the Frieze Art Fair, which has presented new productions by emerging artists and reconstructions of historical exhibitions. From 2009 to 2010, she was Curatorial Director of the year-long X Initiative, New York, an experimental nonprofit for which she oversaw numerous exhibitions and events.[6] Alemani is a co-founder of No Soul For Sale, a festival of independent spaces, nonprofit organizations, and artists’ collectives.[7] As an independent curator, she organized many exhibitions in museums, nonprofit spaces, and galleries, including Gió Marconi Gallery, Milan;[8][9] Blum & Poe, Los Angeles;[10] MoMA PS1, New York;[11] and the Whitney Museum, New York.[12]

In 2017, Alemani curated the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 57th International Art Exhibition.[13] Titled Il Mondo Magico (The Magical World), the exhibition featured new large-scale, site-specific commissions by Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Roberto Cuoghi, and Adelita Husni-Bey.[14]

In 2018, Alemani was artistic director of the first edition of Art Basel Cities, a new initiative in partnership with Buenos Aires to celebrate the city's thriving cultural ecosystem.[15] Alemani curated a city-wide exhibition titled Hopscotch (Rayuela) that featured 18 works in close dialogue with their venues, shaping a multilayered experience that connected visual art, urban spaces, and the city's histories in unexpected ways.[16] Among the participating artists were Eduardo Basualdo, Pia Camil, Maurizio Cattelan, Gabriel Chaile, and Luciana Lamothe.[17]

For Art Basel 2019, Alemani commissioned Alexandra Pirici to stage a new iteration of Aggregate for the city's Messeplatz.[18] The immersive work is a performative environment featuring more than 60 performers who move around the visitors, enacting gestures and sounds that reference disparate forms of cultural heritage, creating something like a time capsule.

In 2023, Alemani was part of the jury that awarded the 2024 Preis der Nationalgalerie to Pan Daijing, Daniel Lie, Hanne Lippard and James Richards.[19]

Alemani is married Massimiliano Gioni, an Italian curator and contemporary art critic. The couple has one son together and reside in the East Village, Manhattan in New York City.[35][36]

Alemani has written extensively for various publications, including Artforum.com[37] and Mousse Magazine,[38][39][40] and has a weekly column in D, Repubblica as of October 2019.[41] She has authored, co-authored, edited or contributed entries to a number of books.