Director and Chief Curator, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal , QC
John Zeppetelli joined the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 2013, as both its Director and Chief Curator. Under his leadership, the MAC has enjoyed a significant increase in attendances and notoriety and a refreshing renewal in both its programming and spirit. Sophie Calle, Simon Starling, David Altmejd, Jon Rafman, Dana Schutz, Ragnar Kjartansson and Lizzie Fitch / Ryan Trecartin are among some of the exciting artists to have exhibited – to both critical and popular acclaim – since his arrival at the MAC, where he oversees a wide-ranging program of exhibitions, public programs and acquisitions, as well as spearheading a building transformation project. He is currently at work on an exhibition by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles and a group show on the legendary Montreal singer Leonard Cohen.
Before joining the MAC he was curator for almost seven years at DHC/ART Foundation in Montréal where he organized exhibitions with some of the world’s leading artists including Marc Quinn, Haroun Farocki, Stan Douglas, Christian Marclay, Sophie Calle, Michal Rovner, Jenny Holzer, Ceal Floyer, John Currin, Thomas Demand and Cory Arcangel among others. An award-winning group show exploring loss and mortality across personal, social and political realms called Chronicles of a Disappearance, brought together works by Omer Fast, Teresa Margolles, Philippe Parreno, Taryn Simon and José Toirac.
Before returning to his native Montreal, John worked at the ICA in London and in a commercial gallery in New York while he attended the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program. He has lectured in Video Art at NSCAD University and at Concordia University where he also ran the MFA Visiting Artist Program. John has curated media arts festivals in both Canada and Europe. He is also an award-winning filmmaker whose work has been screened internationally in festivals and galleries.