An Italian will lead the world's leading art fair: Vincenzo De Bellis director of Art Basel

An Italian will lead the world’s most important art fair, Art Basel. In fact, the fair, which gathers the globe’s most important galleries in Basel, Switzerland, every year, has appointed Vincenzo De Bellis as director of fairs and exhibition platforms, a role created specifically for the Apulian curator, who will relate directly with Art Basel’s global director, Marc Spiegler, and will, a note says, “play a key role in the future development of Art Basel and extend its presence in new markets through activities complementary to the core business of setting up the world’s leading art fairs.”

De Bellis, currently curator and associate director of visual arts programs at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., will take office in August 2022. In his new role, De Bellis will oversee the leadership teams of Art Basel’s four exhibitions in Basel, Paris, Hong Kong and Miami Beach, as well as lead new events and initiatives.

Born in Castellana Grotte (Bari) in 1977, De Bellis trained at the University of Salento, where he studied between 1997 and 2003, after which he furthered his studies at Sapienza in Rome and Bard College, and began his career as assistant curator at GAMeC in Bergamo. He later held the same position at the Museion in Bolzano and then worked since 2009 as director of the Peep-Hole Art Center in Milan. He was then, from 2012 to 2016, artistic director of Miart, before moving to Minnesota to take up his current position. He also curated the first two editions of Panorama, the traveling exhibition of Italics, a consortium of more than sixty of Italy’s leading art galleries.

“I am delighted to welcome Vincenzo to our team and look forward to working with him to further strengthen our fairs 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 of Art Basel. “He brings to us an experience of the art world that spans fairs, institutions and events, along with a dynamic and innovative mindset that fits very well at a time that requires us to constantly consider new roles in new realities.”

“During my 20 years in the art world, I have always welcomed, appreciated and sought new challenges,” says Vincenzo de Bellis. “I am honored to join Art Basel and look forward to working closely with Marc Spiegler and the management teams of the four exhibitions. I am also excited to expand the spectrum of exhibition platforms to further explore ways in which Art Basel can provide opportunities for dialogue between local and global art scenes and communities of artists, gallerists, collectors, art institutions, as well as art lovers of the present and future.”

An Italian will lead the world's leading art fair: Vincenzo De Bellis director of Art Basel

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