Ruth Estévez

Known for her contributions to Art Nexus and Flash Art and for internationally renowned curatorial projects, doctoral candidate and curator Ruth Estévez was recently appointed  Gallery Director and Curator at the REDCAT in Los Angeles.

Based in Mexico City, Estévez worked previously as chief curator at the prestigious Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Carrillo Gil and then as founder of LIGA – Space for Architecture, an organization that promotes contemporary architectural practices in Latin America. She holds an M.A. in Museography and Exhibition Design from the European Institute of Design in Madrid and an M.A. in Art History from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where she is currently studying for a doctorate in Art History.

REDCAT Executive Director Mark Murphy described Estévez as, “a dynamic and insightful curator and cultural instigator who approaches her work with a keen intellectual rigor, an articulate and nuanced sense of humor and a thoughtful, pointed sense of cultural activism.” He added, “Ruth is truly an artist-centric curator who has helped artists to make some of their best and freshest work, both in gallery settings and with site-specific projects and interventions that have provoked important discourse about the vital role of artists in social change.”

Thomas Lawson, Dean of the School of Art at CalArts and a member of the Gallery Director search committee also noted Estévez’s sensitivity to artists, commenting, “One important role of the gallery at REDCAT is to give international artists on the cusp of wider recognition their first exposure in Los Angeles. With Ruth taking the reins we will surely see this continue, and will benefit from her deep connections throughout Latin America and the Mediterranean.”

Estévez said: “I’m very excited about the opportunity to work in the city of Los Angeles, which has such strong links to Latin America. And I am especially excited by REDCAT’s unique interdisciplinary mission – theater arts and dance have always been key references for my curatorial practice, along with architectural notions of spatiality. I plan to explore in a provocative way the encounters and connections between these disciplines.”

Estévez will join Associate Gallery Curator Aram Moshayedi, who had been serving as acting Director for the past year since former Curator Clara Kim became Senior Curator for Visual Art at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.