Carlos Basualdo, the new chief curator of exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts, said he is here to work for the students. “My goal is to make a program that is truly international, that reflects the complexity of today’s world in a way that helps us think about ourselves – the local community, about its ambitions, problems and aspirations,” Basualdo said.Basualdo, a native of Rosario, Argentina, is an internationally renowned contemporary art curator and critic. He is co-organizing “Documenta 11,” an exhibition to be held in 2002 in Kassel, Germany.Basualdo’s responsibilities at the Wexner Center are to oversee the exhibition department and to shape the center’s exhibition program. He joined the Wexner Center staff in September.The 36-year-old came to the Wexner Center because it had the right blend of energetic staff willing to take risks. In addition, he was drawn to Columbus because he saw its commitment to contemporary architecture and felt it was a terrific relationship to build on. The vision Basualdo has for the Wexner Center stresses becoming closer to the people of the university and the community. He plans to expand the role and meaning of exhibits, making them more flexible to reach the public. He also wants to make the Wexner a mandatory stop for anyone interested in contemporary art.Basualdo would like to be reflected in the mirror of the Wexner Center – the way it sees itself and what it would like to be. “To find myself in that would be very flattering,” he said.Basualdo said international experience will benefit the Wexner Center through the expertise he has gained and the research he has done. Basualdo thinks that the contacts, friends and colleagues he has made throughout his career will also be advantageous. Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, Basualdo believes in thinking globally and acting locally. He wants the center to appeal to several audiences by working with and through the OSU constituency and local community. He sees it as a system of concentric circles consisting of OSU students and faculty, the larger community, the national and international audiences. There is an expansive wave of energy, he said, that goes through these rings until it creates an international resonance. Basualdo plans many surprises at the Wexner Center in the coming months and invites students to visit. Expect many positive changes that are mostly targeted at students. “I am here to work for them,” he said. “I am a passionate person, whether I like it or not,” Basualdo said, adding that his greatest attribute and flaw is his enthusiasm.He said he enjoys working with artists and putting shows together because he gets pleasure from the process and hopes that it is conveyed in the exhibits. Basualdo hopes that the people who come to the shows feel his enthusiasm.When he is not at the Wexner Center, Basualdo focuses on the internationally renowned project “Documenta 11.” In his free time, Basualdo said he loves to read, particularly about political theory, economics and poetry. Another hobby he enjoys is sports, especially soccer. As a child, he never imagined he would be a curator. Basualdo did not know what he wanted to be “when he grew up” so he just kept doing what he loved – writing poetry. He was certain that he loved to read but did not know what he wanted to do with this affection. In college he studied writing because he read so much. “Reading makes me think, pushing me to look at things from a different standpoint,” Basualdo said.Thus, he felt writing was a powerful tool to reach people. When Basualdo later discovered curatorial work, he felt that it was even more influential than writing. Basualdo said although many read poetry, he wanted to have contact with people; curatorial work fulfilled these goals and also allowed him to still be seeded in intellectual values. In 10 years, Basualdo jokingly said he would like to be living in a palace. But honestly he wants to still be alive and have a bigger family. Additionally, he would like to have more time to write poetry while he is still doing a show. The walls of his office are blank for the most part, but this isn’t because he has not finished unpacking. Instead of pictures from his past, he prefers current pictures of him and his staff. His home, on the other hand, is filled with many paintings and gifts he has received from friends. They are pictures of and objects from people he loves. Basualdo said his personal and professional lives are one and he will try to keep it that way. “Whatever happens to me professionally helps me reflect about myself,” he said. “It’s a life experience.”Of all of his accomplishments, the thing he is most proud of is his marriage. “It takes a lot or work,” he said. He is also very proud of his new position at the Wexner Center and of his work with “Documenta 11.”Basualdo has had experience in many aspects in the contemporary art world. His accomplishments include writing catalogue essays such as “A Location for Utopia: A Brief Note,” along with three books. His articles and reviews include “Anthropology and Neo-liberalism: the XXIV Sao Paulo Biennial” and “What are the Auctions for?” Basualdo has also given lectures and been a panelist in symposiums examining a wide variety of topics. A few of his grants and awards include the Fondo Nacional de las Artes, Rosario City Council Grant and the Antorchas Foundation Grant.Sherry Geldin, Wexner Center director, said she is thrilled to have Basualdo on board.”Thoughtful, enterprising and globally attuned, Carlos Basualdo brings vital, creative and intellectual gifts to the center,” she said. “At once rigorous and adventurous, probing and passionate, Carlos embodies to perfection the very spirit of the Wexner Center. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”Prior to inviting Carlos to apply for this position, I had met him briefly on the occasion of an exhibition that he curated in New York a few years back,” she said. “Clearly he made an indelible impression and I was hopeful that he would agree to become a candidate for this position. “Carlos is a genuine intellectual and as such will find the campus environment to be particularly inspiring and invigorating,” Geldin said. “I know he has already established contact with a number of university colleagues and he’s expressed a keen interest in establishing partnerships across academic departments.”Dan Cameron, senior curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, said he became a friendly colleague with Basualdo through his work and then just plain friends. They met about eight years ago when Basualdo moved to the United States. “Gradually, I became aware of projects of his, like the amazing ‘Tunga retrospective,'” Cameron said. Basualdo was thrilled when he was chosen for the Wexner Center position, Cameron said, considering it the greatest challenge so far in an already remarkable career. Basualdo will bring a more cutting-edge, globally-oriented dimension to the Wexner Center’s programs, Cameron said. “A few years ago, Carlos was co-founder of an online critics’ community called VOTI that ended up having a big effect on the curatorial field,” he said.Cameron also mentioned that Basualdo is a great dancer. Perhaps OSU can look forward to seeing yet another side of Basualdo in the future.