Alongside founding and running Olivier Varenne, Olivier is the artistic director of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), in Tasmania. He has been working for the MONA since 2006, responsible for the acquisition of the museum’s contemporary art collection and its exhibitions programmation for which he has overseen over 35 shows for the museum.
Olivier's experience in the art world spans more than 20 years. Working with both contemporary and modern art, he gravitates around artists and works of art that have expanded the boundaries of what art signifies and how it attempts to reflect the complexity of human experience. Olivier has collaborated with established artists including Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Wim Delvoye and Gilbert & George as well as championed emerging contemporary artists like Oliver Beer, Ryoji Ikeda, Chiharu Shiota, Conrad Shawcross and Toby Ziegler at the start of their careers. During this time he has brought many art projects to life collaborating with galleries, foundations, biennales public spaces to showcase them. Past projects include the Moscow Biennale in 2009, On and On exhibition on ephemeral art at La Casa Encendida in Madrid in 2010, Théâtre du Monde at Maison Rouge in 2014 and the Socle du Monde Biennale at the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art (HEART) in Herning, Denmark in 2017. Olivier is based in Geneva.
Contact:
olivier@varenne.art
+41 79 326 66 60