LONDON.- The Chairman and Trustees of the Serpentine Galleries today announced that Yana Peel, co-founder of Outset Contemporary Art Fund and CEO of Intelligence Squared, has been appointed CEO of the Serpentine Galleries in partnership with Hans Ulrich Obrist as Artistic Director. The new team will take the Serpentine into an exciting new phase, building on its current success and developing new programmes and audiences.

The announcement follows the news last October that the Serpentine’s Director, Julia Peyton-Jones, is stepping down this month after 25 years of service at the Galleries.

Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, three-term Mayor of New York City and Serpentine Galleries Chairman since 2014, said: “The Serpentine has a well-earned reputation for embracing new and exciting ideas, and I am confident that Yana’s and Hans Ulrich’s bold new leadership will enable us to continue pushing new boundaries for contemporary artists and audiences. Yana combines an extraordinary record of service to the arts with outstanding business experience. Hans Ulrich will provide not only artistic vision, but also continuity with the mission he and Julia Peyton-Jones so passionately worked to achieve.”

Yana Peel said: “I am thrilled to be taking on the leadership of the Serpentine, an institution that I have admired and been involved with for so long. With Hans Ulrich as Artistic Director, I am fully committed to making the most exciting art and ideas of our time accessible to the broadest audiences.”

Hans Ulrich Obrist said: “I am looking forward to working in partnership with Yana Peel and embarking on an exciting new chapter in the history of the Serpentine. I am totally committed to continuing to make the Serpentine the place where artists want to work most and to be able to present our programme in ever new formats and to wider audiences.”

Peter Heslip, Director, Visual Arts, Arts Council England, said: "We are delighted with the recruitment for the new Chief Executive of the Serpentine Galleries and look forward to working with Yana Peel. Yana brings a wealth of experience in both the public and private sector and, in her prior career, a commitment to supporting artists and arts institutions."

The Serpentine also announced the appointment of two new Trustees, award-winning artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Mike Sherwood, Vice-Chairman, Goldman Sachs.