Caterina Avataneo (b. 1989) is an independent curator based in Turin. Her curatorial practice involves thinking intuitively through artworks and experimenting with methodologies of intimate exchange, in particular through a series of duo-collaborative projects which she has been running since 2019. After having been involved in a research group around the topic of "evil" in 2019, she gradually developed an interest for the aesthetics of the dark in contemporary art practice; the role of darkness, destruction, negativity, transgression and evil (intended more in its original etymology of exceeding limits); Gothic recurrence and its temporal and historical implications.
In 2022 she joined the curatorial team of Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters, where she co-curates the Digital Fellowships and supports the wider curatorial programme. Since 2020 she is
curatorial consultant for the New Entries section for emerging galleries at Artissima (Turin) and part of the curatorial board at Cripta747 (Turin) and DEMO Moving Image (online).
In 2019 she was Assistant Curator of Sun & Sea (Marina), the Lithuanian Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale - winner of the Golden Lion. From 2018-2021 she worked as Associate Curator at Arcade Gallery (London & Brussels) and as Assistant Curator on assigned projects at Serpentine Gallery (London).
She holds an MA in Architecture from Politecnico of Turin (2014) and an MA in Curating from London Metropolitan University and Whitechapel Gallery (2017). She was awarded the 2017 NEON Curatorial Award by The Neon Foundation and Whitechapel Gallery and her curatorial projects have appeared in institutions and galleries including: Kunstraum, Austrian Cultural Forum, Zabludowicz Collection, White Crypt, Open Space and Gossamer Fog (all London); Arcade (London & Brussels); HAUS and Pina (Vienna); Britta Rettberg (Munich); Almanac (Turin) and SixtyEight Art Institute (Copenhagen).
Since 2017 she has been invited as Curator in Residence at a number of international institutions, including: NEON (Athens); Danish Arts Foundation (Copenhagen); Salzburger Kunstverein (Salzburg); RUPERT (Vilnius); 40mcube (Rennes) and FRAME (Helsinki).
She has been the editor of a number of publications including the Vynil Catalogue for Sun & Sea (Lithuanian Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale 2019) and Park Night & Marathon booklets (Serpentine Galleries 2018 & 2021). She has been commissioned to write texts for catalogues and exhibitions at GAM (Turin), Austrian Cultural Forum (London), Azkuna Zentroa (Bilbao), among others. Her writing has appeared in Vogue Italia, Flash Art, ATP Diary and Curating the Contemporary.
ARTISTS SHE WORKED WITH INCLUDE:
Helene Appel
Pietro Agostoni
Salvatore Arancio
Miriam Austin
Anna Barham
Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė
Tosh Basco
Chiara Camoni
Jeremiah Day
Caterina De Nicola
Diego Delas
Olivia Douglass
Anna Engelhardt
Cao Fei
Anna Franceschini
Lee Fraser
Vaiva Grainytė
Julius Heinemann
Irati Inoriza
Invernomuto
Karrabing Film Collective
Barbara Kapusta
Lina Lapelytė
Rebecca Lennon
Eleonora Luccarini
Jonas Mekas
Miao Ying
Jota Mombaça
Shana Moulton
MRZB
Hannah Neckel
Jim C. Nedd
Rolf Nowotny
Rory Pilgrim
Ruth Proctor
Giuliana Rosso
Rose Salane
Leonor Serrano Rivas
Marianna Simnett
Anastasia Sosunova
Patrick Staff
Alan Stefanato
Slavs and Tatars
Jenna Sutela
Emilia Tapprest
Sissel Tolaas
Zoe Williams