Whitney Biennial (2019)

Whitney Biennial (2019)
Title	Whitney Biennial (2019)
Venue	Whitney Museum of American Art
Location	New York City
Dates	2019
Curators	Rujeko Hockley; Jane Panetta

Whitney Biennial (2019)

The 2019 Whitney Biennial was a major contemporary art exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City that showcased a cohort of emerging and mid-career artists from the United States and the diaspora. Curated by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta, the exhibition intersected histories and practices associated with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the New Museum, and academic programs at Yale University, Columbia University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Biennial engaged conversations familiar to audiences of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and international events like the Venice Biennale and the documenta series.

Overview

The 2019 presentation occupied the Whitney's Marcel Breuer-designed building and its adjacent sites in Chelsea, Manhattan and explored multiple generations linked to art-world nodes including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Detroit, and Miami. It featured practices resonant with histories from the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and late 20th-century exhibitions at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Museum of Modern Art. The show drew institutional attention from directors and trustees affiliated with the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and university galleries at Princeton University and Brown University.

Curatorial Team and Selection Process

Curators Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta developed the roster through studio visits and networks connected to curators at the Hammer Museum, the Walker Art Center, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and regional centers like the Oakland Museum of California and the Baltimore Museum of Art. The selection process overlapped with artists featured by galleries such as Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, and White Cube, and with exhibition histories at the Whitney's Independent Study Program, the International Studio & Curatorial Program, and residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Advisory input came from museum directors including those at the Brooklyn Museum, the High Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Artists and Works Exhibited

The Biennial presented a cross-section of artists whose practices extended from painting and sculpture to performance, video, and installation. Included were artists with exhibition histories at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the SculptureCenter, the Frick Collection, and the New Museum's Triennial, as well as award recipients like MacArthur Fellows, Turner Prize nominees, and fellows from the Radcliffe Institute and the American Academy in Rome. Works referenced archival sources from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and private collections tied to figures such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Betye Saar, Kara Walker, and David Hammons.

Themes and Critical Reception

Curatorial themes emphasized labor, ancestry, queerness, and the afterlives of settler colonial histories, connecting discourses present in publications like Artforum, Artillery Magazine, Frieze, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Critics compared the Biennial to past exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and international survey shows such as the São Paulo Art Biennial. Reviews cited theoretical lineages invoking scholars and writers associated with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Emma Goldman Archive, and activist histories like Stonewall riots and the Black Lives Matter movement. Commentators referenced the work of artists who have shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, and the Walker Art Center.

Controversies and Institutional Response

The Biennial became focal in debates involving labor actions, board governance, and museum ethics, resonating with public disputes at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Protests and resignations referenced union drives at cultural institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and actions organized by groups aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and labor organizations like the American Federation of Musicians. Trustees and donors from networks tied to the Koch family, the Vanguard Group, and other philanthropic entities were publicly scrutinized, prompting responses from the Whitney's leadership and comparisons to institutional crises at the Guggenheim Museum and the Tate.

Exhibition Design and Venues

Installed in the Whitney's Breuer building and related satellite spaces in Chelsea and neighboring galleries, the exhibition design engaged curatorial precedents set by designers who have worked at the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and the Guggenheim Bilbao. The layout considered audience circulation patterns observed at the Met Breuer and included performance programs in dialogue with stages used by The Kitchen, MoMA PS1, and the Juilliard School. Audio-visual works were presented with technical coordination familiar to festivals like Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and museum film series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Legacy and Impact on Contemporary Art

The 2019 Biennial influenced subsequent survey shows and institutional programming at venues such as the Hammer Museum, the New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and university galleries at Yale University and Harvard University. Many exhibiting artists went on to solo exhibitions at commercial galleries including Gagosian and David Zwirner and institutional shows at the Whitney, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and international institutions like the Serpentine Galleries and the Centre Pompidou. The exhibition contributed to ongoing discussions in periodicals including Artforum, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, and The Atlantic about representation, governance, and the role of contemporary art institutions.

Category:Whitney Biennial