João Fernandes
João Fernandes has been appointed Under Director for Conservation, Research, and Diffusion at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, replacing Lynne Cooke, who held the post since 2008.
Fernandes gradated in Modern languages and Literatures from the University of Oporto, and did his post-graduate work at the University of Lisbon. In 2003 he was appointed Director of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, where he curated exhibitions by artists such as Eduardo Batarda, Dara Birnbaum, Lourdes Castro, François Dufrêne, Barry Le Va, Manoel de Oliveira, Júlio Pomar, Robert Rauschenberg, Paula Rego, and Alvaro Siza.
As an adjunct director for the Museu Serralves, his post between 1996 and 2003, he organized exhibitions of the work of Tacita Dean, Pierre Huyghe, Fernando Lanhas, Albuquerque Mendes, Lygia Pape, Joana Vasconcelos, and João Vieira.
Earlier in his career, Fernandes organized and curated the Portuguese delegation to the 1st Johannesburg Biennial (1995), the 24th São Paulo Biennial (2003), and, in collaboration with Vicente Todolí, the 50th Venice Bienale (2003).
João Fernandes is a member of the Conselho Geral da Universidade do Minho and of the Conselho de Representates da Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto and da Faculdade de Arquitectura de Oporto, as well as the IKT (Internationale Kunstausstellungsleiter – Tagung).
