Tobia Bezzola

Tobia Bezzola was born in Bern in 1961. He graduated in philosophy and art history at the University of Zurich. After working as an assistant in the philosophy department of the University of Zurich, he served as assistant to Harald Szeemann from 1992 to 1995. In 1995 he was appointed curator and subsequently head of the exhibition program at the Kunsthaus Zurich.
During his time in Zurich, he curated over thirty exhibitions of modern art, contemporary art and photography, including monographic exhibitions on Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann, Edward Steichen, Alberto Giacometti, Joseph Beuys, Christian Marclay, Thomas Struth, Ed Ruscha and thematic exhibition projects (Rivoluzione! Italian Modernism from Segantini to Balla; Hot Spots: Rio de Janeiro / Milan – Turin / Los Angeles; FotoSkulptur). In 2013 he was appointed director of the Museum Folkwang in Essen, one of the most important museum institutions in Germany and Europe, where he manages an important structure with international collection and exhibition activities (for example, projects on Gerhard Richter, Albert Oehlen, Robert Frank, Pierre Soulages, Joan Mitchell, The Pinault Collection, Thomas Schütte, Karl Lagerfeld, Katharina Fritsch, Douglas Gordon, Taryn Simon, Alexander Kluge), paying particular attention to the relationship with the various interest groups involved and to the development of the public and collateral activities. Since January 2018 he has been Director of the Museo d'arte della Svizzera Italiana, MASI, in Lugano and since 2021 he has taught History of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio.