Susanna Temkin
Art History, Museum Studies, and Painting
Curator at El Museo del Barrio
Susanna V. Temkin is Curator at El Museo del Barrio, where she recently co-curated the museum’s inaugural Triennial exhibition, La Trienal-ESTAMOS BIEN (2020-2021). At El Museo, she also co-organized the recently opened exhibitions EN FOCO: The New York Puerto Rican Experience, 1973-1974 (2021-2022); Popular Painters & Other Visionaries (2021-2022); as well as the museum’s fiftieth anniversary exhibition, Culture and the People (2019). Temkin earned her master’s and PhD degrees from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where her research focused on modern art in the Americas, with a focus on Cuba. Prior to El Museo, she served as Assistant Curator at Americas Society in New York, as well as the research and archive specialist at the Cecilia de Torres, Ltd., where she assisted in co-authoring the digital catalogue raisonné of artist Joaquín Torres-García. Temkin has published essays and reviews in exhibition catalogues and magazines including the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Alice Neel: People Come First; the Rutgers Art Review; Burlington Magazine; among others.
EDUCATION
PhD May 2016, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York
History of Art and Archaeology
Dissertation: “Un arte social y revolucionario: Marcelo Pogolotti and the International
Avant-‐Garde “
Advisor: Edward Sullivan
M.A. 2010, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York
History of Art and Archaeology
Qualifying Papers: “A Pan-‐American Art Exhibit for the World of Tomorrow: The 1939 and
1940 Latin American Art Exhibitions at the Riverside Museum”
“Juxtapositions in Composition: A Re-‐evaluation of The Conversion of
Mary Magdalene by Juan Correa”
B.A. 2007, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Magna cum laude; Art History (with distinction), Spanish, English minor
CURATORIAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
July 2018 Curator, El Museo del Barrio, New York
- Curated and co-‐organized Culture and the People: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-‐
2019 - Co-‐curated Diálogos section at 2019 Frieze New York art fair
July 2016-‐Nov. 2017 Assistant Curator, Americas Society, New York - Research, coordinate shipping, and supervise installation of all exhibitions
- Lead exhibition tours and participate in public programming
- Assist as managing editor for exhibition catalogues: Told and Untold: The Photo
Stories of Kati Horna in the Illustrated Press (2016); Erick Meyenberg: The wheel
bears no resemblance to a leg (2017); José Leonilson: Empty Man (2017) - Maintain department budget
Sept.-‐Oct. 2016 Curator, Atmospheres and Entropies: Works on Paper by Catalina Chervin, Art Museum
of the Americas, F Street Gallery, Washington D.C.
Sept.-‐Oct. 2016 Curator, Catalina Chervin’s It and Canto, Herman Maril Teaching and Research Gallery,
University of Maryland Art Gallery
2011-‐2016 Research and Archive Specialist, Cecilia de Torres, Ltd., New York - Led project for the public release of the online catalogue raisonné of
Uruguayan modernist artist, Joaquín Torres-‐García (www.torresgarcia.com) - Curated 2016 Summer exhibition, Under the Influence
- Researched and organized gallery archives related to Torres-‐García and his
workshop, the Taller Torres-‐García - Wrote and edited gallery texts, press releases, applications, etc.
2014-‐2015 The Great Hall Exhibitions Co-‐Curator, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Spring 2015: FÉLIX GONZÁLEZ-‐TORRES
Fall 2014: EXPAND//FOLD//COLLAPSE//Sculptures by Marta Chilindron - Curated two contemporary art exhibitions held in the historic Great Hall of the
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University - Organized events related to Great Hall Exhibitions, including opening
receptions, artist conversations, and panel presentations
Summer 2010 Curatorial Intern, Abu Dhabi Department, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
- Assisted with research for exhibitions for the Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi
2009-‐2010 Curatorial Assistant (Temporary Hire), Curatorial Intern, El Museo del Barrio, New York - Contributed to preparation and installation of the exhibitions Nexus New York,
Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement; and Retro/Active: The
Works of Rafael Ferrer - Researched and wrote artists’ bibliographies for Nexus New York exhibition
catalogue, and accompanying Google Map highlighting New York City locations
of artists’ homes, studios, and commissions
http://www.elmuseo.org/en/nexus-‐new-‐york-‐map
2007-‐2009 WebWise Coordinator, The Wolfsonian-‐Florida International University,
Miami Beach, Florida - Executed and managed Wolfsonian-‐FIU grant from the Institute of Museum
and Library Services to co-‐host the 2008 and 2009 WebWise Conferences,
which convened 350 museum, library, and archive professionals to discuss the
impact of emerging digital technologies on cultural institutions
Summer 2007 Curatorial and Registrar’s Department Intern, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami, Florida
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Spring 2012 Adjunct Professor, History of Western Art I, New York University
Kerry Barrett, New York University
Spring 2011 Course Assistant, Latin American & Caribbean Art in Paris 1880-‐1990
Edward Sullivan, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Fall 2010 Course Assistant, Modern Art in Four Latin American Centers
Edward Sullivan, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Fall 2010 Student Assistant
David O’Connor, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS
2015-‐2016 Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, New York University
2015 Bader Student Travel Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts
2013 and 2012 Institute on the Study of Latin American Art Research Grant, Institute of Fine Arts
2012 Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant, Social Science Research Council
2010-‐2011 Samuel F.B. Morse Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts
Summer 2009 Shelby White and Leon Levy Travel Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts
Spring 2009 Lila Acheson Wallace Scholarship, Institute of Fine Arts
Fall 2008 Sheldon Solow Scholarship, Institute of Fine Arts
2005-‐2007 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
PUBLICATIONS
Ongoing Freelance writer, Latin American Art Department, Christie’s, New York (since 2014)
2018 Contributor, Art Market Dictionary, De Gruter
2018 Contributor, Grove Encyclopedia of Latin American Art, Oxford University Press
2018 “International Intersection: Marcelo Pogolotti at the Galerie Carrefour,” Passages à Paris,
Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris (forthcoming)
2018 Exhibition Review “Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950” College Art
Association http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/3286
2018 Exhibition Review “Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil,” The Burlington Magazine,
No. 3282, Vol. 160
2017 “José Leonilson: Empty Man” in José Leonilson: Empty Man (New York, Americas Society). Co-‐
authored with Cecilia Brunson and Gabriela Rangel
2017 “Curating on the Divide” Americas Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 2, p. 128-‐135. Co-‐authored with
Verónica Flom
2016 Chronology and biographies Concrete Cuba: Cuban Geometric Abstraction from the 1950s (New
York: David Zwirner Books)
2015 Joaquín Torres-‐García Catalogue Raisonné. http://torresgarcia.com Co-‐authored with Cecilia
de Torres
2015 Exhibition Review: “Eighth Floor, Please” The Institute of Fine Art’s Contemporary Art Consortium
blog, September 21 http://ifacontemporary.org/the-‐eighth-‐floor-‐please/
2014 “Conversation between Susanna V. Temkin and Linda Kohen,” Linda Kohen: Private Life: My House,
My Table, My Bed, My Self (New York: Cecilia de Torres, Ltd.)
2014 “Cuban Art and Culture In and Around the 1939-‐1940 New York World’s Fair,” Journal of Curatorial
Studies, Volume 3, No. 2-‐3, p. 238-‐263.
2014 “EXPAND//FOLD//COLLAPSE//Sculptures by Marta Chilindron,” electronic exhibition catalog, The
Great Hall Exhibitions, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/events/great-‐hall-‐exhibitions.htm
2012 “Paris Politics, and Soto: A Conversation with Estrellita B. Brodsky,” The Institute of Fine Art’s
Contemporary Art Consortium blog, January 29
http://ifacontemporary.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/paris-‐politics-‐and-‐soto-‐a-‐conversation-‐ with-‐
estrellita-‐b-‐brodsky/
2011 Exhibition review: “Nueva York: 1613-‐1945: El Museo del Barrio in collaboration with the New York
Historical Society,” Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas, Volume IV, p. 129-‐136.
2011 Exhibition Review: “Luis Camnitzer at El Museo del Barrio,” The Institute of Fine Art’s Contemporary
Art Consortium blog, March 10
http://ifacontemporary.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/luis-‐camnitzer-‐at-‐el-‐museo-‐del-‐barrio/
2011 “A Pan-‐American Art Exhibit for the World of Tomorrow: The 1939 and 1940 Latin American Art
Exhibitions at the Riverside Museum,” Rutgers Art Review, Volume 27, p. 49-‐67.
2011 Catalogue Entries: “Elena del Rivero” and “Gloria Ortiz-‐Hernández” Art=Text=Art: Works by
Contemporary Artists, electronic exhibition catalogue,
http://www.artequalstext.com/category/susanna-‐temkin/
2006 “The Transition to El Greco’s ‘Extravagant’ Late Style,’” The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Journal
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2019 Zilia Sanchez Sympoisum, The Phillips Collection
Paper: Zilia Sanchez at El Museo del Barrio
2019 Sixth Latino Art Now! Conferene: Sight Lines and Time Frames
Respondant: Self Help Graphics at Fifty
2017 College Art Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Moderator: “Alternate Revolutions: Re-‐Examining Cuban Art Beyond 1959”
2016 New Directions in Cuban Studies Conference, University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection,
Miami, FL
Paper: “Contested Cubanidad: Marcelo Pogolotti”
2016 College Art Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Paper: “Authorship and the Workshop: The Case of Joaquín Torres-‐García’s Monumento”
2015 Immunity/Community, Cultural Analysis and Theory Department at Stony Brook University
Paper: “Bourgeois Immunity and Revolutionary Community: A Case Study of Marcelo Pogolotti’s
Cadeau a la maitresse“
2013 Passages through Paris International Conference, Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris
Paper: “International Intersection: Marcelo Pogolotti at the Galerie Carrefour”
2013 College Art Association Annual Conference, New York
Paper: “Cuban Art and Culture In and Around the 1939-‐1940 New York World’s Fair”
2013 Latin American Art Bibliography Symposium, New York Public Library
Presentation on New York based research practices about Latin American art
2012 Fine Arts Graduate Student Symposium at La Maison Française, New York University
Paper: “Cubans in Paris: Carlos Enriquéz and Marcelo Pogolotti”
2010 International Research Forum for Graduate Students and Emerging Scholars at The University of
Texas at Austin
Paper: “From International Exposition to the Archive: Latin American Art at the 1939-‐1940 New
York World’s Fair”
2010 El Museo del Barrio Simposio, New York
Paper: “The Impact of Alfred Stieglitz: Marius de Zayas’ Up and Down Fifth Avenue”
2010 Institute of Fine Arts, In-‐House Symposium, New York
Paper: “A Pan-‐American Art Exhibit for the World of Tomorrow: The 1939 and 1940 Latin
American Art Exhibitions at the Riverside Museum”
UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2019 Jury, UMEZ [Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone] Arts Engagement Grant
2018 Invited Speaker, DEMAN [Duke Entertainment, Media, and Arts Network]
2016 Organizing Committee, IFA-‐ISLAA Symposium: Realisms: Politics, Art, and Visual Culture in
the Americas
2015 Mellon Mays Fellows Professional Network Mentoring Program
2010-‐2011 Graduate Student Association Committee, Institute of Fine Arts
- Liaison between graduate students and faculty and staff
- Communicated information about academic and job opportunities to students
working in the fields of Latin American and Spanish art
2009-‐2010 Spanish and Latin American Student Representative, Institute of Fine Arts - Communicated information about academic and job opportunities
- Organized events for students working in the fields of Latin American and
Spanish art
2006-‐2007 Duke University Union Visual Arts Committee Chair - Managed a programming budget of $17,000+
- Coordinated art exhibits by local North Carolina artists in the Louise Jones
Brown Gallery as well as two student galleries in Duke University Libraries
2005-‐2007 Nasher Student Advisory Board, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University - Liaison between Duke University student body and Nasher Museum of Art
- Coordinated programming for monthly “Art for All!” series.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Alliance of Museums
Association of Latin American Art
Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association
U.S. Latinx Art Forum
LANGUAGES
Spanish, French (reading), Italian (reading), Catalan (reading), Portuguese (reading)
