MUNICH.- Haus der Kunst announced that on September 15 Dr. Susanne Rockweiler will assume the role of Deputy Financial Director, and Head of Development and Fundraising at Haus der Kunst.
Susanne Rockweiler (born 1965) is extremely qualified for this position. As Deputy Director of the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin from 2010 to 2018, her responsibilities included strategic direction, organizational development and marketing. She successfully acquired third-party funds and was able to contribute her expertise in personnel management and administration matters as well as on cultural and political committees and in lobbying efforts, while also working closely with international museums and artists.
From 2002 to 2008 she was a strategic advisor to the CEO of the Curt Engelhorn Foundation in Mannheim. As a member of Reiss Engelhorn Museum's management board, she became responsible in 2003 for the museum's development and profiling, as well as for the general refurbishment of the institution's Zeughaus building. Prior to this, Susanne Rockweiler held various positions, including Deputy Head of Public Relations in the Department of Museums and Archives Mannheim, of Texte zur Kunst and interim director of the Kammerorchester Schloss Werneck.
"We have gained a specialist in Susanne Rockweiler, one with whom we can further expand the acquisition of third-party funds and realize a program that continues to be recognized both nationally and internationally," commented Haus der Kunst's Financial Director, Dr. Bernhard Spies, when speaking about the decision.
Chief Curator Ulrich Wilmes is retiring
Dr. Ulrich Wilmes (born 1953), who has been Chief Curator at Haus der Kunst since 2008, will retire in November of this year. He is currently preparing the exhibition "Jörg Immendorff: For all Beloved in the World," which will open on September 13. It is the first major survey exhibition of Immendorff's work since the artist's death in 2007.
During his time at Haus der Kunst, Ulrich Wilmes organized important exhibitions on the works of Gerhard Richter, Ellsworth Kelly, Ed Ruscha and Georg Baselitz; in collaboration with Okwui Enwezor and Katy Siegel, he co-curated the exhibition "Postwar: Art between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965" (2016/17).
Before joining Haus der Kunst, Ulrich Wilmes was responsible for exhibitions at the Museum Ludwig, including "Der Blaue Reiter in Köln," "Edward Hopper," "Piet Mondrian" and "Gerhard Richter" (2008); the latter travelled from Cologne to Munich's Haus der Kunst when Wilmes relocated to the city.
From 1991 to 1998 Ulrich Wilmes was the curator of post-1945 art at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and then, from 1998 to 2000, Deputy Director of Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau. During this time he realized numerous projects, dedicated among others to Isa Genzken, Mel Bochner, Chuck Close and Jeff Wall.
As exhibition director at Portikus Frankfurt am Main from 1988 to 1991, he introduced artists Thomas Struth, Thomas Schütte, Bruce Nauman and Lawrence Weiner to the broader public. He had originally completed his doctoral studies on the Italian mannerist Rosso Fiorentino, but soon found his professional focus in modern and contemporary art.
"With Ulrich Wilmes' departure, Haus der Kunst bids farewell to an internationally renowned specialist of 20th and 21st century art, who is valued by artists, colleagues and lenders alike. My time together with him was short, and - despite predictable differences between curatorial and financial goals - very constructive and collegial. I have great respect for his decision to retire now, although it certainly cannot have come easily, as Haus der Kunst currently faces the task of stabilizing itself before its planned renovation. I am pleased that we can celebrate and honor Mr. Wilmes' merits together with the opening of the Immendorff exhibition and wish him all the best for his future," commented Dr. Spies on Wilmes' upcoming retirement.
