The Biennial characterizes the state of American art today.

Phoebe Washburn, It Makes for My Billionaire Status, 2005 (installation view, Kantor/Feuer Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005).

The Whitney Biennial is being held this year, and with it comes the usual buzz it generates in the art scene of New York. This year the curators have decided to cover more installation and performance works than painting or sculpture.

Ellen Harvey, Museum of Failure: Collection of Impossible Subjects & Invisible Self-Portraits, 2007 (installation view, Luxe Gallery, New York, 2007).

The reasons for the curatorial change is that today’s artists are working in more genres, using more varieties of material, and moving among more geographic locations than ever before. By exploring the networks that exist among contemporary artists and the work they create, the Biennial seek to characterize the state of contemporary American art.

Mika Tajima/New Humans, Disassociate, 2007. Performance with Vito Acconci, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, February 24, 2007

The performances are being scheduled throughout the duration of the Biennial, ending in June 1st. Some of them take place in the Whitney, but this year the museum has included additional venues and gallery spaces to conduct these events, including the Park Avenue Armory.

Joe Bradley, Installation view, Joe Bradley, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2007; from left: Cavalry, 2007; Itz, 2007; Night Runner with Strike, 2007; The Thing, 2007

Whitney Biennial 2008
Date: March 6th – June 1st, 2008
Open: 11:00 – 18:00 (Closed on Monday and Tuesday)
Place: Whitney Museum of American Art
Address: 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York, NY 10021
Tel: +1 212 570 3600
https://whitney.org