Alex Gartenfeld

Alex Gartenfeld is recognized internationally for his work with established and emerging contemporary artists. As part of the founding team for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Gartenfeld helped to lead the creation of the institution, its building, and mission. In his role as Artistic Director, Gartenfeld oversees institutional and programmatic growth, including exhibitions, educational and public programs, and catalogues for the museum, as well as the development of its permanent collection.

Gartenfeld led the development of the exhibition program inaugurating ICA Miami’s new home, including the institution’s first major thematic survey, The Everywhere Studio, which traced the evolution of the artist studio from postwar to the present day. Other major ICA Miami exhibitions curated by Gartenfeld have included solo presentations of Ida Applebroog, Thomas Bayrle, Larry Bell, Judy Chicago, Shannon Ebner, Allan McCollum, John Miller, Paulo Nazareth, Virginia Overton, Pedro Reyes, Sterling Ruby, Ettore Sottsass, and Andra Ursuţa, among others. He has also been instrumental in spearheading solo presentations of the work of Terry Adkins, Allora & Calzadilla, Donald Judd, Hélio Oiticica, and Senga Nengudi, among others. Under his leadership in 2019, the museum launched a new exhibition series dedicated to design and the annual Ezratti Family Prize for Sculpture to support major commissions for the museum’s sculpture garden. Gartenfeld has also spearheaded the ongoing development of the museum’s collection with an inclusive, global focus on underrepresented artistic voices, as well as strong representation of Miami-based artists.

Alongside ICA Miami’s curatorial program, Gartenfeld has spearheaded the development of key public and educational programs at ICA Miami, including ICA SPEAKS, featuring lectures by Richard Tuttle, Nicole Eisenman, Jorge Pardo, among others; and ICA PERFORMS, with a landmark residency by Michael Clark and the Trisha Brown Dance Company. With Director of the Knight Foundation Art + Research Center Gean Moreno, he helped launch and develop the Knight Foundation Art + Research Center, comprising a series of advanced education seminars conducted by leading arts practitioners. He also initiated the museum’s public sculpture program, which launched in September 2017 with an exhibition of monumental sculpture by Sol LeWitt.

In 2018, Gartenfeld co-curated the New Museum’s fourth Triennial exhibition with Gary Carrion- Murayari, making him the first museum curator outside of the New Museum’s staff appointed to this role.

Gartenfeld is a frequent contributor to international scholarly journals and an editor-at-large at Art in America.