Searching for the real thing at the museums latest survey of contemporary art.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
TheWhitney Biennialisnt what it used to be.
The past several Whitney Biennials have turned the tables.
The show isnt for people like me; its for the public.
These are the exhibitions contemporary values for better and worse.
Underscoring the point is this Biennials title, Even Better Than the Real Thing.
The show does address Gaza, climate change, abortion, and the continued effects of the pandemic.
Only the subject matter is new.
Dont miss Suzanne Jacksons amazing hanging encrustations of poured and scraped paint.
These things are so morphologically alive they become skin.
It pulses darkly with life, melting very slowly in the sunlight from the nearby windows.
A lot of art here just takes up space.
P. Staffs all-yellow room with an electrified net suspended overhead is a good place to take a selfie.
A neon text by Demian DineYazhi reads, WE MUST PURSUE + PREDICT + IMAGINE ROUTES TOWARD LIBERATION.
Its great to include this artist.
But not this simplistic meme.
Theres a lot of bad art made in obvious ways.
The wall text states that the work invokes the practice of trading salt for enslaved people in ancient Greece.
Ser Serpass lobby installation features a ratty section of a couch with a soiled American flag.
This is the Biennial at its best: beautiful, serious, experimental chaos.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
Top photo grid: Suzanne Jackson,Rag-to-Wobble, 2020.
Courtesy the artist and Ortuzar Projects, New York.
Photograph by David Kaminsky.Isaac Julien,Iolaus/In the Life (Once Again… Statues Never Die), 2022.
Photograph by Audrey Wang.Harmony Hammond,Black Cross II, 202021.
Courtesy the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York.
Photograph by Audrey WangP.
Staff,Afferent NervesandA Travers Le Mal, 2023.
Courtesy the artist and Kunsthalle Basel.
Photograph by Philipp Hanger.Eamon Ore-Giron,Talking Shit with Viracochas Rainbow (Iteration I), 2023.
Courtesy the artist and James Cohan, New York.
Photograph by Nora Gomez-Strauss.Mavis Pusey,Within Manhattan, 1977.
Photograph by Elon Schoenholz.B.
Photograph by Robert Chase Heishan.Takako Yamaguchi,Issue, 2023.
Photograph by Audrey Wang.Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio,Paloma Blanca Deja Volar/White Dove Let Us Fly,2024.
Photograph by Nora Gomez-Strauss.Seba Calfuqueo, still fromTRAY TRAY KO, 2022.
Photograph by Sebastian Melo.Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst,xhairymutantx Embedding Study 1,2024.
Photograph by Audrey Wang.Karyn Olivier,How Many Ways Can You Disappear, 2021.
Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Los Angeles.
Photograph by Pierre Le Hors.Jes Fan,Cross Section (Right Leg Muscle II), 2023.
Courtesy the artist; Empty Gallery, Hong Kong; and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York.
Photograph by Olympia Shannon.
