The Art Institute of Chicago announced today the appointment of Karen Kice to the position of Neville Bryan Assistant Curator, Department of Architecture and Design , effective immediately. Kice will join Zoë Ryan, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, in building and strengthening the Art Institute’s holdings of contemporary architecture. Kice will also spearhead the development of exhibitions that identify and explore important current thinking and practice in the field of contemporary architecture and urbanism as well as take an active role in bringing these …

The Michener Art Museum Board of Directors is pleased to announce Lisa Tremper Hanover as the museum’s new Director and CEO. She succeeds Bruce Katsiff, who has been at the helm since 1989.
Hanover has been director, Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, for nearly a quarter century, where she also is adjunct professor, fine arts. The Berman is noted for its diverse collection and innovative educational programming. Like the Michener, it is accredited by the American Association of Museums.
“I have had the distinct pleasure of being the …

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) and Gateway Foundation are pleased to present the fifth edition of Great Rivers Biennial. Opening on Friday, May 11, 2012, this exhibition demonstrates how artists based in the St. Louis area dynamically engage with the issues, stylistic tendencies, and techniques that define the contemporary art and culture of our time. The Great Rivers Biennial 2012 winners are David Johnson, Asma Kazmi, and Mel Trad, who have developed individual projects in photography, multimedia installation, and sculpture, respectively.

Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun
Art Institute of Chicago
February 25–June 3, 2012
In the first exhibition devoted to the artist in the United States, Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun explores the prescient and provocative work of French Surrealist Claude Cahun. Born Lucy Schwob to a family of French Jewish intellectuals and writers, Claude Cahun–who adopted the pseudonym at age 22–is best known for the staged self-portraiture, photomontages, and prose texts she made principally between 1920 and 1940.

Jindřich Heisler: Surrealism under Pressure
Art Institute of Chicago
March 31, 2012-July 1, 2012
In the first solo retrospective of the artist in the world, the Art Institute explores the rich and concise oeuvre of Czech poet, photographer, and object-maker Jindřich Heisler in Jindřich Heisler: Surrealism under Pressure. Heisler, the child of a mixed-faith marriage, joined the Surrealist Group in Czechoslovakia in 1938, on the eve of the Nazi dismemberment of his country.