Susanne Pfeffer (b. 1973) is an art historian, curator, and the director of the MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST. Since her arrival at MMK, in January 2018, she has mounted exhibitions including, Marianna Simnett, who she brings to ArtCenter in this program, and the much-lauded first retrospective devoted to the art of the famously reclusive Cady Noland. From 2013 to 2017 Pfeffer directed the Fridericianum, Kassel, where she organized the trilogy of exhibitions, Inhuman (2015), nature after nature (2014), Speculations on Anonymous Materials (2013), as well as the retrospectives Tetsumi Kudo (2016), Marcel Broodthaers (2015) and Paul Sharits (2014). Previously she served as chief curator at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2007–2012), and as curator and advisor at the MoMA PS1, New York. From 2004 to 2006 she was artistic director of the Künstlerhaus Bremen.

In 2015, Pfeffer served as commissioner of the Swiss pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennial, where she presented the work Pamela Rosenkranz. Two years later saw, her back in Venice, this time as commissioner of the German pavilion, where her curation of Anne Imhof’s Faust, earned the artist the Golden Lion. Pfeffer has been honored by the AICA US for her exhibition, Kenneth Anger at MoMA PS1 in 2009, and was awarded the ART magazine curators’ prize for her exhibition Inhuman (2015) at the Fridericianum.

Marianna Simnett (b. 1986, London) uses film, installation, drawing and sculpture to challenge how bodies are perceived and imagined.

Simnett completed her MA at the Slade School of Art in 2013. She was awarded the Jerwood/FVU Award in 2014 and was shortlisted for the Jarman Award in 2017. Her work has been exhibited in numerous museums, including Kunsthalle Zürich, 2019; Copenhagen Contemporary, 2019; the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 2019; the New Museum, New York, 2018; and MMK, Frankfurt, 2018, where Susannne Pfeffer mounted a show devoted to her art. Upcoming exhibitions are scheduled for IMA Brisbane and Castello di Rivoli, Turin both in 2020.

Image: Marianna Simnett, Blood In My Milk, 2018. Exhibition view: MMK, Frankfurt. Photo: Axel Schneider

The Graduate Art Seminar is a forum for graduate students and members of the ArtCenter community to enter into dialog with internationally recognized artists, critics, and art historians. The Seminar is a core component of ArtCenter's Graduate Art program. The Seminar is also free and open to the public.

ArtCenter's Graduate Art program is based on intensive studio practice and rigorous academic coursework. The program is distinguished by its low faculty-to-student ratio that provides students with the attention and feedback they need to refine and achieve their artistic goals. Faculty and students are artists working in all genres—film, video, photography, painting, sculpture, performance and installation. A significant number of alumni have achieved national and international acclaim and often return to share their insights and expertise as visiting faculty and guest lecturers.