Robert Punkenhofer

Robert Punkenhofer earned from 1984 to 1991 a Ph.D. and LL.M specialized in international comparative law at the Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. He made his postgraduate studies at the Law Faculty at the Venezuelan University Universidad Católica Andres Bello in Caracas. He also earned an academic certificate in Export Management from his alma mater in 1991. Two years later he attended New York University and earned a Master of Arts degree in Arts Administration specialized in museum management. Since then he has completed continuing education courses at Harvard Business School, as well as HEC Singapore, IE University in Madrid and London University specializing in executive leadership, financial development, international project management, change management and brand management. In addition he has been part of the Guggenheim Foundation´s internship program, worked at Exit Art and the Lycée Honoré Romane in France as a language assistant.

He is the Founder and Managing Director of ART&IDEA since 1995, a nomadic agency that organizes contemporary art, design, architecture, and fashion programs on an international level that fosters cultural dialogue. Since its inception, ART & IDEA has hosted over 100 exhibitions around the world through its project spaces in New York, Barcelona, Vienna, Berlin, Madrid and Mexico City. They offer specialized consulting for both private and corporate clients as well as public institutions in the creation of artistic projects such as festivals, exhibitions, collections, symposia and other large scale activities. Amongst ART&IDEA´s highlighted projects stands Mur Island in Graz who´s original idea and curatorial concept was conceived by Punkenhofer and its design and architecture by artist Vito Acconci for the European Culture Capital in 2003. ART&IDEA´s early programing featured some of the first solo exhibitions of artists such as Abraham Cruz Villegas, Daniel Guzmán, Damián Ortega, Santiago Sierra and Teresa Margolles with SEMEFO. Since it´s foundation in 1995 their curatorial spaces have shown works by artists like Vito Acconci, Dr. Lakra, Artemio, Minerva Cuevas, Gabriel Kuri, Uli Aigner, Maria Serebriakova, Pablo Vargas Lugo, Paulina Lasa, Miguel Monroy, Alex Dorfsman, Luis Felipe Ortega, Kara Walker and many other artists.

As a director and curator of Austria´s World Fair official projects in Japan, Spain and China, Robert Punkenhofer has pushed Austrian contemporary art further into an international context through Austria´s Ministry of Economics and the Federal Economic Chamber. In 2005 the Austrian Pavilion focused on the senses and was designed by Trecolore Architects. Its main theme was "Wisdom and Nature" also presenting "A Waltz" by the experimental electronic duo Formation Ohne Name at the Aich World Expo in Japan. The 2008 pavilion was created as an artistic architectural project combining Austrian-Spanish design in a symposium in Zaragoza, Spain titled "Liquid Sky - Horizons of Architecture and Design of the 21st Century."

Punkenhofer curated various exhibitions as the CEO of the Austrian Design Foundation (2002-2004), highlighting the "Austrian Design Explosion" show at the Triennale Museum in Milano, which took place from June 25 to July 5, 2015. The Vienna Art Week was also developed by Punkenhofer, who has served as its Artistic Director since 2005. The project takes place in Central Europe welcoming over 35,000 attendees. Other curatorial expertise worth mentioning is the exhibition "A Way Beyond Fashion" that took place in parallel to New York´s Fashion Week. Punkenhofer´s goal was to curate an exhibition that explored identity, technology and ecological sustainability and showcase works that linger in the space between art and fashion. In 2014 he curated the "Goethe Diàlegs" exhibition that inaugurated the Goethe Institute in Barcelona, including works of 28 prominent artists such as Bruce Nauman, Joan Fontcuberta Jenny Holzer and Iñaki Bonillas amongst others. In 2008 the Flow Festival of Conversation for Culture and Science was founded, of which Punkenhofer was the Director. The first edition took place in Novi Sad, Serbia and 2010´s second edition in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. The festival "created as an independent platform, enabled eighty young and upcoming creative artists and scientists from ten Danube countries to collaborate on developing projects." Fostering dialogue between a multidisciplinary crowd who created various projects centered around the theme of "conversations." This multidisciplinary approach to business has led him to revive the trade of Austrian watchmaker Carl Suchy & Söhne by gathering a talented team of renown designers and watchmakers. Together they are developing new products to revitalize the Habsburg Empire´s luxury watch manufacturer´s Carl Suchy´s long line of watches dating back to 1822.

Teaching

He regularly teaches as guest professor at New York University in the International Leadership Program in Visual Arts Management (ILPVAM) and is a member of the International Advisory Board of Princeton University in the Program in Latin American Studies. Robert is regularly participating as a juror for Art/Architecture and Design prizes such as Delta in Spain, amongst others. Punkenhofer´s mother tongue is German and as a polyglot he fluently speaks Spanish, English and French.

Building an Island Vito Acconci / Acconci Studio (book, Hatje Cantz, 2003, ISBN 978-3-7757-1357-3 )

A Way Beyond Creative Industries (book, Folio Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3852565132

Art & Idea Anniversary Publication (book, Hatje Cantz, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7757-2001-4 )

Contributions to publications

Cities, Museums and Soft Power (book, The AAM Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1941963036

The apexart Fellowship: An Experiment in Vertical Cultural Integration (book, Apexart Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-1-933347-94-3 )

American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space (book, University Press of New England, 2005, ISBN 978-1-58465-517-6 )