Vanessa Joan Müller

Independent curator
Vienna

Vanessa Joan Müller is a Vienna-based curator and writer, and holds a PhD in Art History. Her practice often reflects on institutional typologies, the legacies of institutional critique, and the role of contemporary art in shaping society. From 2013 to 2020, Müller was head of Dramaturgy and curator at Kunsthalle Wien. Beforehand, she was director of Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2006-2011) and head of research at the European Kunsthalle in Cologne (2005/2006). She has worked for and curated exhibitions at the Leopold Museum, the Gallery of the University of Applied Arts, the 55th October Salon in Belgrade and Frankfurter Kunstverein. In 2017 she curated the Pavilion of the Republic of Albania at the 55th Venice Biennale.

Müller has given lectures and taught at the University of Art and Design in Karlsruhe and the Department of Architecture at the University of Technology Vienna. She is a regular contributor to art magazines and has published extensively on contemporary art in exhibition catalogues and artist monographs.

Vanessa Joan Müller participated in a curatorial group visit to Japan for Art Week Tokyo, supported by Phileas. She attended the symposium titled Imagining Others: Transnational Perspectives on Contemporary Art and engaged in internal discussions with Japanese curators about curatorial challenges.

Vanessa Joan Müller. Photo: Courtesy the curator