More surprising is the fact that he chose the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, a contemporary museum with a stunning collection but which, only six years ago, was deemed expendable by the university's then president.

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"Being awarded the Pavilion is the greatest honor in the contemporary art world," said Christopher Bedford, the Rose's director. "If that doesn't spell the end of the Rose crisis period and suggest a sparking new beginning, I'm not sure what would."

Bradford, 54, said that he didn't know all that much about Rose controversy, which ended when the university agreed not to consider selling any of its collection, which is valued at more than $350 million and includes works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Willem de Kooning.

He did know Bedford well. They met a decade ago when Bedford, now 39, was an assistant curator at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. After Bedford took over the Rose in 2012, the first work he purchased was Bradford's sprawling, mixed-media canvas, "Father, You Have Murdered Me."

"I trust him," said Bradford. "When you're working on major things, it's good to work with someone who you've had a major working relationship with. You're already comfortable with each other before you start."

The Rose has also added Bradford to its board. The artist, whose focus on social service has led to his efforts to create programs for foster children in his native Los Angeles, has said he's been inspired by the focus on social justice at Brandeis.

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In 2014, he gave a talk at the school that included Bedford and Anita Hill, the Brandeis professor most famous for accusing then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

"I talked to the students after that talk and they were so on fire," said Bradford. "They just blew me away. They're so passionate and believe they can change things. So for me, it just felt right. It's the Rose plus Brandeis and Christopher."

What's not clear is what exactly Bradford will create for the Biennale. It will go on view in May of 2017 and be co-curated by Bedford and Katy Siegel, the Rose's curator at large and the chair of modern American art at Stony Brook University.

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Maxwell L. Anderson, the former director of the Dallas Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Indianapolis Museum of Art, said that the Rose designation was actually a coup for the Boston area. In 2015, the MIT List Visual Arts Center presented Joan Jonas in Venice.