Benjamin Giorgio Genocchio (born 28 April 1969) is an Australian-born non-fiction writer and art critic resident in New York who writes for the New York Times.[1] He is the author and editor of seven books.
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Genocchio was born in Sydney, New South Wales and attended Newington College (1981-1986). [2] He studied Arts/Law at the University of Sydney and later completed a Ph.D in art history.[3]
Genocchio began his career in journalism in his native Australia, writing for Business Review Weekly, a weekly business and politics magazine. He later wrote art criticism for The Bulletin, a weekly current affairs magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, before, in 1997, being appointed Sydney art critic for The Australian, Australia's national daily newspaper. He rose rapidly to become the paper's chief art critic and later National Arts Correspondent, covering art and culture in Australia and abroad. He was twice shortlised for the Pascal Prize, Australia's premier prize for cultural criticism.
In April 2002, Genocchio gained international notoriety when as the art critic for The Australian newspaper he was being threatened with a $50-million lawsuit by the Italian government for his blunt front-page critique of a visiting exhibition of Italian old master paintings at the National Gallery of Australia. [4] The review prompted the Italian culture chief Vittorio Sgarbi to denounce the review and promise to sue the newspaper for defamation. No claim was ever made, or even legally valid, though the story generated headlines and was carried in dozens of newspapers worldwide, including The New York Times and The Times.
In late December 2002 he moved to New York to begin writing for the New York Times. [5] In 2008 Genocchio published Dollar Dreaming, an expose of corruption and double dealing in the $500 million trade in Aboriginal art in Australia and abroad.[6] The book received a great deal of media attention, especially in Australia.[7]