Nicole Yip Appointed Director of Spike Island

Canadian curator and writer Nicole Yip has been announced as the new director of Bristol, England’s Spike Island. Yip joins the contemporary art and design center from Nottingham Contemporary, where she has served as chief curator of exhibitions and live programs since 2019. She replacesRobert Leckie, who departed after five years in the role to becomedirectorof London’s Gasworks. Yip will assume her new post this June.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Nicole Yip as the new director of Spike Island,” said the art center’s board chair, Judith Squires, in a statement. “Nicole brings a wealth of experience to this important role as we seek to further strengthen our reputation as one of the country’s most exciting arts organizations.”

While at Nottingham Contemporary, Yip organized exhibitions by artists including Assemble, Meriem Bennani, Dora Budor, Charlotte Johannesson, Eva Koťátková, Kresiah Mukwazhi, Ridykeulous (Nicole Eisenman and A. L. Steiner), and Diane Simpson. Prior to her arrival there, she was director of LUX Scotland and earlier held various curatorial roles at LUX London; Firstsite, Colchester; and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Among the exhibitions she has curated outside the aforementioned institutions are those at the Gallery of Modern Art and Tramway, both in Glasgow; the Showroom, London; the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kerala, India; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, Nassau. Yip is a trustee of Film London and chair of Film London’s Artists’ Moving Image Network.

“I have long admired Spike Island as an institution that places artists and their needs at the heart of everything it does,” Yip said in a statement. “This is an ethos that I will hold close as we embark on its next chapter. I look forward to working with the team and board to build on the fantastic achievements of former director Robert Leckie, and getting to know the vibrant community that makes Spike Island so special.”