Michelle Farias Sommer: I am a researcher and a writer and I work as a professor, curator and visual arts critic. Currently I am a postdoctoral fellow in Visual Languages at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (since 2017). I hold a PhD in History, Theory and Art Criticism at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2016) and have been a visiting researcher at the University of the Arts London / Central Saint Martins at the exhibition studies department (2015). I have a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in the area of city, culture and politics (2005). I am an architect and urban planner too (2002). I have written and organised several books and regularly contribute as an art critic to national and international publications. Among these recent productions, I co-edited the magazine Artpress n. 53 – Amérique Latine Arts et Combats which focuses on discussions about Latin American artistic practices nowadays (2020). In 2017 I was the co-curator of the exhibition “Mário Pedrosa: on the affective nature of form” held at Museo Reina Sofia, which won an award in curatorship by the ABCA (Brazilian Association of Art Critics). My professional practice in curatorship is focused on the development of artistic projects through “critical-clinical” orientation, the organization of publications connected to curatorial and academic research, and, occasionally, curatorship of exhibitions. I have contributed to institutional and independent projects in workshops and artistic residences mainly in Latin America. My research interests are Latin American cultures and, more recently and from this context, productions made by women artists. I am also Livy’s mother.
Email: mihsommer@gmail.com