This episode, we speak to Tina Kukielski, the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Art21, one of the leading global producers of films and content about contemporary artists. Each month, more than 300,000 people from around the world tune in to Art21 to watch their Peabody Award Winning films with artists including Zanele Muholi, Theaster Gates, Luchita Hurtado, Jordan Casteel, and Pedro Reyes. 

In addition to leading Art21, Tina is also an active and widely respected curator. She was a co-curator of the acclaimed 2013 Carnegie International, bringing together 35 established and emerging artists from 19 different countries, including Sarah Lucas, Phyllida Barlow, Mark Leckey, and Nicole Eisenman. During her time at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 2002–2010, she worked to acquire and mount exhibitions by a wide range of celebrated contemporary artists.

As lead curator on the Hillman Photography Initiative at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Kukielski launched a number of digital initiatives and films series. In 2014, Kukielski co-produced a documentary film about Andy Warhol in partnership with artist Cory Arcangel documenting a digital conservation project which brought renewed attention to nearly forgotten artworks that Warhol made on an Amiga personal computer in 1985.

She is now working on the upcoming Front Triennial in Cleveland Ohio, which will open slightly delayed in 2022. The Triennial's title, Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, is derived from a Langston Hughes poem. 

Some artists covered in this episode: