Adriano Pedrosa To Receive Audrey Irmas Award For Curatorial Excellence

The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) announced that Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director of Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), will receive the 2023 Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence. The award, which is accompanied by a $25,000 prize, recognizes the achievements of a distinguished curator whose innovative thinking, bold vision, and dedicated service has made a significant contribution to the landscape of exhibition-making today.

The curatorial achievements of this year's awardee cover multiple continents and span over two decades of practice. Since joining MASP, Pedrosa has redefined the institution's program with groundbreaking exhibitions that reexamine Brazilian art histories. His inventive curatorial approach has catalyzed thought-provoking, layered narratives that put the past in dialogue with contemporary issues.

Pedrosa will be honored at CCS Bard's spring 2023 gala celebration and dinner on Monday, April 3, 2023. The event, which is chaired by the CCS Bard Board of Governors, will be held in New York City at The Lighthouse at Pier 61.

"As embodied in his trailblazing Histórias exhibition series, Adriano Pedrosa's commitment to amplifying and recontextualizing works that address pressing themes of our time has engaged new audiences in São Paulo's critical arts dialogue. His work fosters the highest social and civic values of the visual arts, contributing new perspectives that propel the entire field forward," said Tom Eccles, Executive Director, CCS Bard.

"It is an honor to receive this award, undoubtedly the most prestigious one in the curatorial field," said Pedrosa. "I am grateful for those who have supported me and those from which I've learned over the years throughout many projects and conversations, particularly at MASP, as well as those who have challenged me to rethink my work-artists, curators, and other colleagues and friends. I am happy and humbled to be alongside so many esteemed colleagues, especially as the first South American and the first curator based in the Southern Hemisphere."