OMBRETTA AGRO' ANDRUFF

Ombretta Agrò Andruff has lived in New York City since 1998 where she works as an independent curator and art critic. Born in Turin, Italy, in 1971 she graduated from the University of Art and Literature in Siena, Italy, in 1995 and holds a post-graduate degree in International Cultural Management from the ICCM in Salzburg and Fitzcarraldo Foundation in Turin. In 1996 she started her career as a curator of a not-for-profit space, VELAN, dedicated to showcase the work of emerging Italian and international artists.

Since then she has curated solo and group shows in Europe and the US collaborating with museums, art festivals, commercial galleries and art fairs such as Artists Space, GAle GAtes et al., Queens Museum of Art, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Armory Show, The Art Basel Miami Fair, The Downtown Arts Festival, The d.u.m.b.o. art under the Bridge Festival, the Esso Gallery and Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs. In Europe she worked with the Maze Gallery and Alberto Peola Gallery in Turin, the Maria Cilena Gallery in Milan, Italy, and PLAY Gallery in Berlin. Since 2002 she has been doing research within the sound-art field and curated sound-based shows for the dumbo art festival in 2005, Brooklyn Vibes, and for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Echoes from the Mountains – Suoni in Alta Quota.

She is a New York contributor for Italian art magazines Arte Critica, Tema Celeste, and Label as well as collaborating with the New York-based, The Art Tribune and New York Arts Magazine. She has written essays for several books and catalogues.

In July 2001 she was invited by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York to hold a conference about her curatorial activity. Since then she has lectured at Engine 27, School of Visual Arts, the Pratt Institute, the New York University, the United Nations, in New York; and at the Kingston University in London, UK; Technarte Conference in Bilbao, Spain; Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, Italy; Religare Arts Initiative gallery, New Delhi, India.

Since 2005 she has been a consultant to the Italian Cultural Institute in New York City and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs. In 2007 she started collaborating with the Religare Arts Initiative, a New Delhi-based art organization, as their International Art Advisor.