By Angelica Arbelaez, Locust Projects 

Locust Projects is pleased to announce the 2015 Locust Talks lecture series lineup. Locust Talks brings curators and directors from innovative institutions in the US and abroad to Miami to discuss critical issues and ideas impacting artists and their communities. Visiting lecturers also meet with Miami artists in their studios. The 2015 Locust Talks lecture series kicks off with Jens Hoffmann, Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions and Public Programs, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY.

Launched in 2013, the Locust Talks program has hosted participants such as Anne Pasternak, President and Artistic Director, Creative Time, New York; Lauri Firstenberg, Director and Chief Curator of LAXART; Fairfax Dorn, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX; 2014 participants included: Peter Eleey, Curator, MOMA PS1, Long Island City, NY; Jenelle Porter, Mannion Family Senior Curator, ICA Boston, Boston, MA; and Louis Grachos, Ernest and Sarah Butler Executive Director, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX. Locust Talks are made possible with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About Jens Hoffmann Jens Hoffmann is a curator and writer based in New York. He currently is Deputy Director of the Jewish Museum in New York and Senior Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Hoffmann was Director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco (2007 – 2012), and Director of Exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London (2003 – 7). He has curated many exhibitions around the world including the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012) and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011). He has contributed numerous articles to art magazines such as Frieze, Artforum, Parkett and Texte zur Kunst as well as writing over 200 essays for exhibition catalogues and museum publications. Most recently he authored ‘Show Time: The 50 Most Influential Exhibitions of Contemporary Art’ (2014) and ‘Ten Fundamental Questions of Curating’ (2013).