Johan Kugelberg
Faculty Profile
Born in Sweden, Johan Kugelberg has over 20 years of experience in the US entertainment and art industries. From 1990–1994, Johan was the General Manager for Atlantic Records subsidiary Matador Records. During this time, Johan co-founded the Time Warner-owned music distribution company ADA. From 1994–1997, Johan was a marketing executive for Warner Brothers subsidiary Def American Records. As a record producer from 1998–2001, Johan produced Grammy Award winning artist Freddie Walding.
Johan was the curator of the Punk/Rock sale at Christie’s in 2008, the first major auction sale devoted to Punk. In addition, Johan has served as a curator and consultant in pop culture fields for auction houses including Christie’s and Phillips De Pury. As a Board Member of the Cornell University Library and Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, Johan is an established curator of rare books and pop culture collections. He was recently appointed to the Board of Directors at Printed Matter.
As an archivist Johan has created comprehensive collections in the fields of punk, hip hop and counter-culture, focusing on printed works, ephemera, photography, and book arts. His archives include The Hip Hop History Archive and The Punk History Archive at Cornell University, The May ’68 Uprising Collection of Posters and Ephemera at Yale University, and an Ian Dury Manuscript Collection at Oxford University.
Currently, Johan Kugelberg is the owner and curator of project space and gallery Boo-Hooray in Manhattan. Over his career Johan has curated over 20 exhibits and written 18 published books, including Vintage Rock T-shirts, True Norwegian Black Metal, Born in the Bronx, The Velvet Underground: New York Art, Beauty is in the Street and Punk: An Aesthetic. His book on the early history of hip hop was nominated for the NYPL Books for the Teen Age award 2008, and his book on the Velvet Underground won the Foreword silver medal for music 2010. Beauty Is in the Street was nominated for the London Design Museum 2012 Designs of the Year Awards.
Johan holds a degree from the University of Gothenburg.