The Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI (MAXXI) in Rome has appointed curator and author Francesco Stocchi as the institution’s artistic director. Stocchi succeeds Hou Hanrou, who led the institution for 2013. The change comes amid a period of upheaval for the institution of contemporary art and architecture, whose parent entity, Fondazione MAXXI, a body set up by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, recently hosted a new president, Alessandro Giuli. One of the main objectives of Stocchi’s new role will be to take charge of exhibition programming, which is likely to change profoundly. The curator Francesco Bonami, in a June 27 article in the Italian daily Fogdecried MAXXI as “more of an art Airbnb than a real museum”, and argued that Stocchi should resist local influencers, noting that the reputation of a “serious” institution rests on “more knowing how to say no than yes” . ”
Born in Rome in 1975, Stocchi has long been active on the contemporary art scene, both as a curator and as a writer. More recently he curated “Giuseppe Penone: Gestures”, currently In sight at the Galleria Borghese in Rome; A exposure the installation by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich at the Palazzo Reale in Milan; and Moroccan artist Latifa Echkach exposure at the Swiss pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale. In 2011, he was appointed curator of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. At the same time, he organized the program at the Fondazione Carriero in Milan. Stocchi has also worked as a writer for various publications including art forum, to which he was a regular collaborator. In 2010, he founded the magazine AGMA. His essays have appeared in catalogs and monographs on artists such as Dan Colen, Gelatin, Arcangelo Sassolino and Cindy Sherman. Stocchi also published a series of visual monographs.
Founded in 2010, MAXXI houses a collection of over four hundred works, including those by Stefano Ariente, Francis Alys, Gabriele Basilico, Vanessa Beecroft, Manfredi Beninanti, Alighiero Boetti, Maurizio Cattelan, Gino de Dominicis, Marlene Dumas, Lara Favaretto, Luigi Ghirri, Gilbert & George, Francesco Gostoli, Anih Kapoor, William Kentridge, Michael Raedecker, Gerhard Richter, Ugo Rondinone, Thomas Ruff, Ed Ruscha, Thomas Schutte, Kiki Smith and Grazia Toderi. In addition, it houses the archives of the architects Pier Luigi Nervi, Aldo Rossi and Carlo Scarpa.
