This appointment follows the perusal of 40 candidatures by a selection committee composed of Frances Morris (Tate Modern, London), Catherine Grenier (Giacometti Foundation, Paris), Dr Hans-Peter Wipplinger (Leopold Museum, Vienna) Philippe Dupont (Vice-Chairman), Paul di Felice (Vice-Chairman), Danièle Wagener and Catherine Decker, with the assistance of Elizabeth Amos, Director of the executive recruitment consultancy for the non-profit sector, Liz Amos Associates.
Suzanne Cotter has been Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation in Porto since 2013 where she has presented a programme of challenging exhibitions and major projects in collaboration with many artists including Julie Mehretu, Philippe Parreno, Wolfgang Tillmans, Helena Almeida, Theaster Gates and Monir Farmanfarmaian, as well as a multidisciplinary programme devised to enhance performances within the museum involving Michael Clark, Boris Charmatz, Trajel Harrell, Alexander Bachzetsis and Adam Linder. Suzanne Cotter also developed the Serralves collection and its profile thanks to exceptional acquisitions and donations. The donation of 40 projects from the Alvaro Siza Archives made it possible to establish the theme of architecture as a major axis of the museum's activities. As Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation from 2010 to 2012, she led the team of curators of the Abu Dhabi Project and also contributed to the development of the Guggenheim New York Art Program and affiliated Guggenheim Museums worldwide. Her international reputation was further confirmed by her position as Curator of the 10th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in 2011. From 2002 to 2009, Suzanne Cotter was engaged at Modern Art Oxford (UK). She began her career there as a curator but subsequently took on the post of Deputy Director in 2008 and became Curator at Large in 2009. She was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2005.
The appointment of Suzanne Cotter will take effect on 1st January 2018. The Mudam and the Fundação de Serralves have agreed on a period of temporary cooperation.
Her Royal Highness the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg highlighted the high professional qualities of Suzanne Cotter. "We are delighted to welcome her to Mudam Luxembourg. The clarity of her vision, her tremendous experience in both Europe and the United States, as well as her international recognition, are all factors which I am sure will make her an excellent director."
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Suzanne Cotter studied Art History at the University of Melbourne, the École du Louvre, Paris, and the Courtauld Institute, London. Between 2006 and 2007, she completed a Post-graduate diploma in Cultural Leadership as part of a pilot programme supported by the European Union to develop women leaders in the arts and cultural sector.
In January 2013, she took up the post of Artistic Director of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea - Fundaçao de Serralves with responsibility for the Museum of Contemporary Art, encompassing the Alvaro Siza-designed museum, library and auditorium, the historic Casa de Serralves, and the Serralves Collection. See www.serralves.pt for information on programming and educational activities.
Between 2010 and 2012, Suzanne Cotter was Curator for the Abu Dhabi Project at Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, USA with responsibility for leading the Project ?s curatorial team and contributing to the curatorial programme for New York and the Guggenheim’s network of museum affiliates globally. Curator with Rasha Salti for the Sharjah Biennial 10 in 2011, the Biennial included over 120 artist projects, of which approximately 80 were newly commissioned.
As Senior Curator, and Deputy Director at Modern Art Oxford, UK, from 2002 to 2009, Suzanne Cotter was responsible for a vast programme of exhibitions, commissions and special projects. Exhibitions and publications included: Pawel Althamer: Common Task*; Miroslaw Balka: Topography*; Silke Otto-Knapp: Present time exercise*; Robert Mapplethorpe: Polaroids; Transmission Interrupted: Adel Abdessemed, Pilar Albarracín, Yto Barrada, Mircea Cantor, Jem Cohen, Jimmie Durham, Simryn Gill, Julia Meltzer and David Thorne, Lia Perjovschi, Michael Rakowitz, Ernesto Salmerón, Yara El-Sherbini and Sislej Xhafa*; Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller: The House of Books Has No Windows*;
Gary Hume: Door Paintings*; Mircea Cantor: The Need for Uncertainty*; Ansel Adams: Photographs; Trisha Donnelly*; Imran Qureshi: Aftermath; Seth Price, Kelly Walker, Continuous Project*; Daniel Buren: Intervention II: work in situ*; Out of Beirut (Walid Raad, Akram Zaatari, Lamia Joreige, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Gilbert Hage, Paola Yacoub and Michel Laserre, Tony Chakar, Ziad Antar, Bernard Khoury)*; Public Time: Symposium*; Christodoulos Panayiotou: Arrivals Cyprus*; Angela Bulloch*; Cecily Brown: Paintings*; Fiona Tan: Countenance*; Pavel Althamer and Artur Zmijewsky: Arrivals Poland*; Jannis Kounellis*; Real World: The Dissolving Space of Experience (Katie Grinnan, Wade Guyton, Christina Mackie, Bojan Sarcevic, Paul Sietsema, Hiroshi Sugito)*; Mike Nelson: Triple Bluff Canyon*; Jim Lambie/Candice Breitz*; Monica Bonvicini: Anxiety Attack*; Jake and Dinos Chapman: The Rape of Creativity*; Arne Jacobsen: How to be Modern*.
From 1998 to 2002, Suzanne Cotter served as Exhibition Curator at the Hayward Gallery, London. Her exhibitions and projects (* indicates accompanying catalogue) included: Lucio Fontana, selected by Sarah Whitfield, design by Claudio Silvestrin; Force Fields: Phases of the Kinetic*, with guest curator Guy Brett, design by Hudson Featherstone Architects; Paul Klee: The Nature of Creation*, selected by Bridget Riley and Robert Kudielka, design by Paul Williams (Stanton Williams); Drawing the Line: Drawings from the Arts Council Collection*; Turnaround New commissions at The Hayward with artists: Liam Gillick, Bob and Roberta Smith, and Fiona Banner.
As curator at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London in 1998, Suzanne Cotter was responsible for the exhibition Speed: Visions of an Accelerated Age* curated with Jeremy Millar. Between 1996 and 1998 she worked as curatorial assistant and subsequently exhibition organiser at the Serpentine Gallery, organizing the Piero Manzoni exhibition with Julia Peyton-Jones and Germano Celant to inaugurate the newly refurbished galleries.
Mudam Luxembourg Annex Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean
Suzanne Cotter has written for numerous exhibition catalogues and publications on contemporary art and has held guest lecturer and tutorial positions in museums and cultural institutions in Europe, the US, Middle East and South Asia. She is a Board Member of CIMAM since 2017 and a member of the Advisory Committee, College of the Arts, University of Coimbra. She was External Examiner for the MA in Contemporary Curating, Royal College of Art, London, between 2007- 2010, a member of the Acquisitions Committee for the Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain, Champagne-Ardennes, France from 2008 to 2011 and part of the Selection Committee for the Artistic Director of Documenta 14.
Grants and Awards include the Museum Award for Best International Projects, Association of Portuguese Museums, 2014, the Alice Award Artistic Landmarks in Contemporary Experience for Best Biennial: Sharjah Biennial 10. In 2009 she received an Arts Council of England Research and Professional Development Grant for curatorial research in the Middle East and greater Arab world, 2009. In 2005, Suzanne Cotter received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture.
Mudam Luxembourg Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean
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