Ralph Rugoff to Step Down as Director of Hayward Gallery

Ralph Rugoff to Step Down as Director of Hayward Gallery

Ralph Rugoff, who has led London’sHayward Gallerysince 2006, will depart the role in spring 2026, the Southbank Centre announced today. He will continue to work as an independent curator and writer. During his tenure at the Hayward, Rugoff curated twenty-three shows, expanded the institution’s international touring exhibition initiative, established a free public-artworks program at Southbank Centre, and inaugurated free programming in what’s now known as the HENI Project Space.

“I have a great love for the Hayward Gallery—for the artists we’ve shown and the audiences who’ve engaged with our exhibitions; for so many superb colleagues and the different communities we’ve worked with; and also for the building itself, which was ingeniously designed as a democratic forum that concentrates aesthetic experience,” said Rugoff in a statement. “Over the past two decades it’s been deeply rewarding to exhibit, commission, and publish some of the world’s most compelling artists; to have the support of truly inspiring art patrons, philanthropists, and collectors; and to partner with great museums and art organizations around the world. I believe the Hayward’s program has made a positive contribution to what has been an era of remarkable change in the contemporary art landscape. I very much look forward to watching its next chapter unfold.”

While at the Hayward, Rugoff served as artistic director of the Fifty-Eighth Venice Biennale in 2019 and as guest curator at the Thirteenth Biennale de Lyon in 2015. Before joining the gallery, he was director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco from 2000 to 2006. Between 1985 and 2002, a span in which he began working as an independent curator, he contributed art and cultural criticism to publications including Artforum, Artpresse, FlashArt, Frieze, Parkett, the Financial Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

“Ralph’s extraordinary passion and visionary leadership has seen the Hayward Gallery carve out an important space in the global contemporary art scene—showcasing diverse voices, platforming the greatest living international and British artists and making the space a welcoming and entertaining place for audiences across London and beyond,” said Southbank Centre CEO Elaine Bedell in a statement.

The Hayward has said it will begin searching for Rugoff’s replacement this fall.