Zoé Whitley Appointed Director of Chisenhale Gallery

In an exciting new move, Zoé Whitley has been appointed as the new director of Chisenhale Gallery. Whitley leaves her position as senior curator at the Hayward Gallery in London, to lead Chisenhale's acclaimed exhibition and engagement program starting late March 2022.

With over sixteen years of experience, Whitley has been at the helm of some of the most innovative, inclusive exhibition programming to date. Known for pioneering new artists and curating boundary-breaking exhibitions with inclusive narratives, Whitley previously held senior curatorial roles at Tate Britain and Tate Modern where she co-curated the critically acclaimed Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black (2017). She went on to curate the British Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 where she presented a body of work by artist Cathy Wilkes. Prior to this, Whitley spent ten years in curatorial roles at the Victoria & Albert Museum and in 2013 co-curated The Shadows Took Shape at Studio Museum Harlem, an interdisciplinary exhibition exploring contemporary art through the lens of Afrofuturist aesthetics.

Taking over from Polly Staple, Whitley plans to hit the ground running at Chisenhale with an immersive sound exhibition Reverb: Sound into Art this June, following on from a HENI Project Space exhibition featuring American artist Cauleen Smith. The curator and director says: 'I am dedicated...to ensuring Chisenhale’s future programme breaks new ground creatively and resonates publicly'. Chisenhale, which frequently commissions under-represented and lesser-known artists, is the ideal space for Whitley continue to transform the art of curation.