The Artist’s Hypothesis

The artist Jack Whitten, who died in 2018, approached his practice with the curiosity of a scientist and the playfulness of a jazz musician. Many of his paintings are the result of a careful aesthetic hypothesis unleashed upon the canvas and then transformed by improvisation. The works at the center of “Jack Whitten. Transitional Space. A Drawing Survey.” (on view at Hauser & Wirth through April 4) display a delightful agnosticism regarding medium and material. In one, he splashes a paper collage with calligrapher’s ink and acrylic paint; in another, he seems to conjure the farthest reaches of space on a single sheet of blotter. A selection of images from the show appears below.

Jack Whitten, Space Flower #9, 2006, acrylic, pastel, and powdered Mylar on rice paper, 7 1/4 x 8 1/4″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

Jack Whitten, Vertical Landscape #3, 1967, watercolor and pencil on paper, 22 5/8 x 22 1/4″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

Jack Whitten, Geometric Collusion #1, 1981, acrylic, pastel, and compressed charcoal on Rives paper, 26 x 19″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

Jack Whitten, Broken Grid VIII, 1996, sumi ink and acrylic on paper collage, 11 1/4 x 15″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

Jack Whitten, King’s Garden #6, 1968, watercolor on paper, 22 1/2 x 31″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

Jack Whitten, Study For Atopolis E, 2014, acrylic on blotter, 18 1/4 x 13″. © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

 

All images from “Jack Whitten. Transitional Space. A Drawing Survey.,” on view at Hauser & Wirth through April 4.