Benjamin Genocchio (born 1969) is an Australian art critic and non-fiction writer. Since October 2019 he has been director-at-large for Shoshana Wayne in Los Angeles and New York City. He worked as an art critic for The New York Times, and then as editor-in-chief of Art+Auction magazine, Modern Painters magazine and the website "artinfo.com". He was director of the Armory Show until November 2017, when he was ousted following allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied. He was previously editor-in-chief of Artnet News, where he also faced accusations of sexual harassment. He is editor-in-chief of Incollect Magazine.

Family and education

Genocchio was born in Sydney in 1969. He is the second of four sons of an Italian father, Giorgio, who worked on a cruise ship, and an Australian mother, Jennifer. Genocchio grew up in Lane Cove and attended Newington College from 1981 to 1986. As a youth he had a short attention span and a low boredom threshold, traits he says led him to become an art critic. Genocchio completed a PhD in history of art at the University of Sydney in 1996. He is a citizen of Australia and Italy.

Career

In late December 2002, Genocchio moved to New York to begin writing for The New York Times. He was an art lecturer at Sydney University and a member of the offshore faculty of Boston University. In 2008 he published Dollar Dreaming, an exposé of corruption and double-dealing in the $500-million trade in Aboriginal art in Australia and abroad. In early 2010, he became editorial director at Louise Blouin Media, and editor-in-chief of Art+Auction magazine, Modern Painters and artinfo.com. He left the post at Modern Painters in 2011. Genocchio left Blouin Media in January 2014 and joined Artnet, where he was made editor-in-chief of Artnet News, a 24-hour art news website. In December 2015 he was appointed director of the Armory Show. The Armory Show opened on March 3, 2016, under Genocchio's direction, featuring 205 dealers from 35 countries and showcasing the work of over 2,000 modern and contemporary artists. He was ousted in November 2017 after multiple accusations of sexual harassment were made against him that extended to his time at Louise Blouin Media, Artnet and the Armory. He denied the accusation in a statement saying that while he had conflicts with employees, he never acted inappropriately, and apologized for any behavior perceived as disrespectful. He was hired shortly after as U.S. vice president of Galerie Gmurzynska, which has spaces in Zurich and New York. In October 2019, he was director-at-large for the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Los Angeles and New York City. In May 2022, Genocchio was appointed Editor-in-chief of Incollect Magazine. He is working on the rebranding of Antiques & Fine Art Magazine as Incollect Magazine, a quarterly print publication. Genocchio is a strategic advisor to the Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week and Art Fair. Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week is an art and design fair for both local and international galleries, dealers, and collectors.

Personal life

In 2014, Genocchio lived in New York state. He is married to curator Melissa Chiu, with whom he wrote Asian Art Now (2010). In September 2015, The Washington Post reported that Genocchio had edited the content of Chiu's Wikipedia article to remove negative commentary about her work at the Hirshhorn and to add laudatory statements.

Publications