2017 Whitney Biennial
Conflict, political fractiousness, and social unease pervade this year’s Whitney Biennial, the first in the museum’s two-year-old Renzo Piano-designed building in Manhattan. The curators, Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks, pick up on contemporary American agita with work by 62 artists and collectives in mediums ranging from 3-D video to a noteworthy amount of painting. (A particularly violent virtual reality work by Jordan Wolfson left one of this magazine’s editors a bit traumatized.) Below, we present a few highlights from the exhibition, which opens on March 17 and runs through June 11.
By Surface March 13, 2017
- KAYA
(Kerstin Brätsch and Debo Eilers) “Serene” (2017)
Resin, enamel, pigment, various materials
- Celeste Dupuy-Spencer
“Closing Party (Hit the North)” (2016)
Oil on canvas
- Kaari Upson
“Snag” (2017)
Urethane, pigment, aluminum
- Asad Raza
“Root Sequence, Mother Tongue” (2017)
Twenty-six trees, UV lighting, customized scents, carpet, cabinet with possessions of caretakers
- Pope.L aka William Pope.L
“Claim (Whitney Version)” (2017)
Acrylic paint, graphite pencil, pushpins, wood, framed document, fortified wine, bologna with black-and-while photocopy portraits
- Pope.L aka William Pope.L
Detail of “Claim (Whitney Version)”
- Jon Kessler
“Exodus” (2016)
Trunk, wood, aluminum, rubber wheels, found figurines, iPhone with selfie stick, LCD screen, motor
- Dana Schutz
Detail from “Shame” (2017)
Oil on canvas
- Dana Schutz
Detail from “Elevator” (2017)
Oil on canvas
- Raúl de Nieves
Foreground: “UUU MEE” (2015-16)
Beads, artist-worn shoe, glue, fiberglass
- Raúl de Nieves
At left: “Man’s Best Friend” (2016)
Yarn, fabric, glue, beads, cardboard, found trim, mannequinAt right: “The longer I slip into a crack the shorter my nose becomes” (2016)
Yarn, dress, glue, beads, cardboard, found trip, apple, taxidermic bird, mannequin
- Raúl de Nieves
“Beginning & end neither & the otherwise betwixt & between the end is the beginning & the end” (2016)
Paper, wood, glue, acetate, tape, beads
- John Divola
“Abandoned Painting H” (2007)
Inkjet print of a photo showing an abandoned student artwork hung in an abandoned building
- Julien Nguyen
“Executive Function” (2017)
Oil and encaustic on linen-mounted panel
- Jessi Reaves
“Bucket Chair with Covers” (2017)
Wood, metal frame, sawdust, wood glue, foam, ink on polyurethane foam painted by Sophie Stone, coated woven sisal, leather, silk, polyester, thread
- Frances Stark
“Ian F. Svenonius’s Censorship Now for the Whitney Biennial 2017, Spread 3 of 8 (pp. 16-17) (the state, like a a rampaging mob boss)” (2017)
Gesso, ink, oil, acrylic on canvas
- Carrie Moyer
“Candy Cap” (2016)
Acrylic, glitter, vinyl paint on canvas
- Torey Thornton
“What Is Sexuality, Is the Scale Infinite Similar to a Line” (2017)
Acrylic paint, metallic paint, copper wire, galvanized steel wire, aluminum military dog tags, plexiglass on cotton and foam with wood frame
- Torey Thornton
Detail of “What Is Sexuality…”
- Installation View
Background: Occupy Museums
“Debtfair” (2017)
Thirty artworks and interactive website