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Whitney Biennial 2019
This highly anticipated book showcases the work and voices of an exciting selection of artists shaping the conversation about contemporary art in the United States today
Since its introduction in 1932, the Whitney Biennial—the Museum’s signature exhibition—has charted new developments in contemporary art. The 2019 Biennial is curated by members of the museum’s curatorial staff Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta, well-known in the contemporary art world for their track records of working with emerging artists and producing historically minded exhibitions. The book features process images and source material from each of the Biennial participants, in addition to a commissioned text on each artist and essays by the curators on the themes of the exhibition.
Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, notes, “The Biennial is a tradition that goes back to the institution’s historical roots while providing us with a barometer of the new. Pushing beyond what is comfortable, presenting diverse approaches to artmaking, and understanding that art can never be severed from the world at large have become the hallmarks of the Biennial.” Coming in the midst of dramatic shifts in the cultural, social, and political landscapes, this book will serve as an important resource on present-day trends in contemporary art in the United States.
Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Exhibition Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(May 17–September 22, 2019)
Since its introduction in 1932, the Whitney Biennial—the Museum’s signature exhibition—has charted new developments in contemporary art. The 2019 Biennial is curated by members of the museum’s curatorial staff Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta, well-known in the contemporary art world for their track records of working with emerging artists and producing historically minded exhibitions. The book features process images and source material from each of the Biennial participants, in addition to a commissioned text on each artist and essays by the curators on the themes of the exhibition.
Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, notes, “The Biennial is a tradition that goes back to the institution’s historical roots while providing us with a barometer of the new. Pushing beyond what is comfortable, presenting diverse approaches to artmaking, and understanding that art can never be severed from the world at large have become the hallmarks of the Biennial.” Coming in the midst of dramatic shifts in the cultural, social, and political landscapes, this book will serve as an important resource on present-day trends in contemporary art in the United States.
Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Exhibition Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(May 17–September 22, 2019)
316 pages, Paperback
Published June 11, 2019
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June 10, 2019
I enjoyed this Biennial far more than previous ones I had attended. While any such gathering of contemporaries is going to yield mixed results, with some attendees being far more drawn to some artists and works than others, there were few moments in the 2019 edition when I felt like the works I was being exposed to were not imminently worthwhile.
The single work that stood out the most was Nicole Eisenman's epic sculptural installation, "The Procession." A slapstick allegory of the futility of resistance within (and therefor also the futility of) "liberal democracy", the piece managed to be genuinely hilarious and utterly despairing simultaneously.
Similarly epic was the work of Martine Syms, whose works inculcate earlier pieces by the artist into themselves, problematizing the very notion of "artwork". A razor-sharp recorded performance piece, "Intro to Throat Modeling" seemed to address Syms's photographic portraits on the walls, which, while individual works in and of themselves, were constellated by the words painted on the gallery wall around them: "People Who Aren't Friends or Lovers or Exes."
Ragen Moss's balloon sculptures impressed me deeply. There was no sense in which their balloon-ness felt like a gimmick. The sculptures managed to be abstract, figurative, and textual all at once.
But for all the cutting edge use of new and experimental mediums, materials and assemblages, one of the most striking bodies of work was the most traditional. Jennifer Packer's intimate, clearly Matisse-influenced yet unique paintings brought home the fact that even in our post-everything present, there is still joy and even revelation to be had in looking at pretty pictures.
The single work that stood out the most was Nicole Eisenman's epic sculptural installation, "The Procession." A slapstick allegory of the futility of resistance within (and therefor also the futility of) "liberal democracy", the piece managed to be genuinely hilarious and utterly despairing simultaneously.
Similarly epic was the work of Martine Syms, whose works inculcate earlier pieces by the artist into themselves, problematizing the very notion of "artwork". A razor-sharp recorded performance piece, "Intro to Throat Modeling" seemed to address Syms's photographic portraits on the walls, which, while individual works in and of themselves, were constellated by the words painted on the gallery wall around them: "People Who Aren't Friends or Lovers or Exes."
Ragen Moss's balloon sculptures impressed me deeply. There was no sense in which their balloon-ness felt like a gimmick. The sculptures managed to be abstract, figurative, and textual all at once.
But for all the cutting edge use of new and experimental mediums, materials and assemblages, one of the most striking bodies of work was the most traditional. Jennifer Packer's intimate, clearly Matisse-influenced yet unique paintings brought home the fact that even in our post-everything present, there is still joy and even revelation to be had in looking at pretty pictures.
Displaying 1 of 1 review