The Whitney Biennial has surveyed the landscape of American art, reflecting and shaping the cultural conversation, since 1932. The eightieth edition of the landmark exhibition is co-curated by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, and Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs. Titled Quiet as It’s Kept, the 2022 Biennial features an intergenerational and interdisciplinary group of sixty-three artists and collectives whose dynamic works reflect the challenges, complexities, and possibilities of the American experience today.
Curatorial Statement
By David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards
Since the start of the pandemic, time has expanded, contracted, suspended, and blurred—often in dizzying succession. We began planning this Biennial in late 2019: before Covid and its reeling effects, before the uprisings demanding racial justice, before the widespread questioning of institutions and their structures, before the 2020 presidential election. Although underlying conditions are not new, their overlap, their intensity, and their sheer ubiquity created a context in which past, present, and future folded into one another. We organized this Biennial to reflect these precarious and improvised times. Many artists’ contributions are dynamic, taking different forms during the course of the exhibition. Artworks change, walls move, and performances animate the galleries and surrounding objects. The spaces of the Biennial contrast significantly, acknowledging the acute polarity of our society. One floor is a labyrinth, a dark space of containment; another is a clearing, open and light filled.
Rather than offering a unified theme, we pursue a series of hunches throughout the exhibition: that abstraction demonstrates a tremendous capacity to create, share, and sometimes withhold meaning; that research-driven conceptual art can combine the lushness of ideas and materiality; that personal narratives sifted through political, literary, and pop cultures can address larger social frameworks; that artworks can complicate the meaning of “American” by addressing the country’s physical and psychological boundaries; and that our present moment can be reimagined by engaging with under-recognized artistic models and artists we have lost. Deliberately intergenerational and interdisciplinary, this Biennial proposes that cultural, aesthetic, and political possibility begins with meaningful exchange and reciprocity.
The subtitle of this Biennial, Quiet as It’s Kept, is a colloquialism. We were inspired by the ways novelist Toni Morrison, jazz drummer Max Roach, and artist David Hammons have invoked it in their works. The phrase is typically said prior to something—often obvious—that should be kept secret. We also adorned the exhibition with a symbol, ) (, from a N. H. Pritchard poem, on view in the exhibition, as a gesture toward openness and interlude. All of the Whitney’s Biennials serve as forums for artists, and the works on view reflect their enigmas, the things that perplex them, and the important questions they are asking. But each of the Biennials also exists as an institutional statement, and every team of curators is entrusted with making an exhibition that resides within the Museum’s history, collection, and reputation. In its eightieth iteration, the Biennial continues to function as an ongoing experiment.
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept is co-organized by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, and Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Mia Matthias, Curatorial Assistant; Gabriel Almeida Baroja, Curatorial Project Assistant; and Margaret Kross, former Senior Curatorial Assistant.
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept is presented by
Generous support is also provided by Judy Hart Angelo; The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston; Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts; Lise and Michael Evans; John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Kevin and Rosemary McNeely, Manitou Fund; The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation; The Rosenkranz Foundation; Anne-Cecilie Engell Speyer and Robert Speyer; and the Whitney’s National Committee.
Major support is provided by The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and an anonymous donor.
Significant support is provided by 2022 Biennial Committee Co-Chairs: Jill Bikoff, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Barbara and Michael Gamson, Miyoung Lee, Bernard Lumpkin, Julie Mehretu, Fred Wilson; 2022 Biennial Committee Members: Philip Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, Sarah Arison and Thomas Wilhelm, Candy and Michael Barasch, James Keith (JK) Brown and Eric Diefenbach, Eleanor and Bobby Cayre, Alexandre and Lori Chemla, Suzanne and Bob Cochran, Jenny Brorsen and Richard DeMartini, Fairfax Dorn and Marc Glimcher, Stephen Dull, Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, Melanie Shorin and Greg S. Feldman, Jeffrey & Leslie Fischer Family Foundation, Cindy and Mark Galant, Christy and Bill Gautreaux, Debra and Jeffrey Geller Family Foundation, Aline and Gregory Gooding, Janet and Paul Hobby, Harry Hu, Peter H. Kahng, Michèle Gerber Klein, Ashley Leeds and Christopher Harland, Dawn and David Lenhardt, Jason Li, Marjorie Mayrock, Stacey and Robert Morse, Daniel Nadler, Opatrny Family Foundation, Orentreich Family Foundation, Nancy and Fred Poses, Marylin Prince, Eleanor Heyman Propp, George Wells and Manfred Rantner, Martha Records and Richard Rainaldi, Katie and Amnon Rodan, Jonathan M. Rozoff, Linda and Andrew Safran, Subhadra and Rohit Sahni, Erica and Joseph Samuels, Carol and Lawrence Saper, Allison Wiener and Jeffrey Schackner, Jack Shear, Annette and Paul Smith, the Stanley and Joyce Black Family Foundation, Robert Stilin, Rob and Eric Thomas-Suwall, and Patricia Villareal and Tom Leatherbury; as well as the Alex Katz Foundation, Further Forward Foundation, the Kapadia Equity Fund, Gloria H. Spivak, and an anonymous donor.
Funding is also provided by special Biennial endowments created by Melva Bucksbaum, Emily Fisher Landau, Leonard A. Lauder, and Fern and Lenard Tessler.
Curatorial research and travel for this exhibition were funded by an endowment established by Rosina Lee Yue and Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.
New York magazine is the exclusive media sponsor.
Participating Artists:
Lisa Alvarado
Born 1982 in San Antonio, TX
Lives in Chicago, IL
Harold Ancart
Born 1980 in Brussels, Belgium
Lives in New York, NY
Mónica Arreola
Born 1976 in Tijuana, Mexico
Lives in Tijuana, Mexico
Emily Barker
Born 1992 in San Diego, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Yto Barrada
Born 1971 in Paris, France
Lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Tangier, Morocco
Rebecca Belmore
Anishinaabe
Born 1960 in Upsala, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada
Jonathan Berger
Born 1980 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY, and Glover, VT
Nayland Blake
Born 1960 in New York, NY
Lives in Brooklyn and Queens, NY
Cassandra Press
Founded 2016 by Kandis Williams
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
Born 1951 in Busan, South Korea
Died 1982 in New York, NY
Raven Chacon
Diné
Born 1977 in Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation
Lives in Albuquerque, NM
Leidy Churchman
Born 1979 in Villanova, PA
Lives in New York, NY, and West Tremont, ME
Tony Cokes
Born 1956 in Richmond, VA
Lives in Providence, RI
Jacky Connolly
Born 1990 in New York, NY
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Matt Connors
Born 1973 in Chicago, IL
Lives in New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA
Alex Da Corte
Born 1980 in Camden, NJ
Lives in Philadelphia, PA
Aria Dean
Born 1993 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Danielle Dean
Born 1982 in Huntsville, AL
Lives in Los Angeles and San Diego, CA
Jane Dickson
Born 1952 in Chicago, IL
Lives in New York, NY
Buck Ellison
Born 1987 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Alia Farid
Born 1985 in Kuwait City, Kuwait
Lives in San Juan, PR, and Kuwait City, Kuwait
Coco Fusco
Born 1960 in New York, NY
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Ellen Gallagher
Born 1965 in Providence, RI
Lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Brooklyn, NY
A Gathering of the Tribes /Steve Cannon
Founded 1991
Steve Cannon: Born 1935 in New Orleans, LA
Died 2019 in New York, NY
Cy Gavin
Born 1985 in Pittsburgh, PA
Lives in New York State
Adam Gordon
Born 1986 in Minneapolis, MN
Lives in Jersey City, NJ
Renée Green
Born 1959 in Cleveland, OH
Lives in Somerville, MA, and New York, NY
Pao Houa Her
Born 1982 in Laos
Lives in Blaine, MN
EJ Hill
Born 1985 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Alfredo Jaar
Born 1956 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in New York, NY
Rindon Johnson
Born 1990 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino
Ivy Kwan Arce: Born 1965 in Salinas, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Julie Tolentino: Born 1964 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Joshua Tree, CA
Ralph Lemon
Born 1952 in Cincinnati, OH
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Duane Linklater
Omaskêko Ininiwak
Born 1976 in Treaty 9 Territory (Northern Ontario, Canada)
Lives in North Bay, Canada (Robinson Huron Treaty Territory)
James Little
Born 1952 in Memphis, TN
Lives in New York, NY
Rick Lowe
Born 1961 in rural Alabama
Lives in Houston, TX
Daniel Joseph Martinez
Born 1957 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA, and Paris, France
Dave McKenzie
Born 1977 in Kingston, Jamaica
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Rodney McMillian
Born 1969 in Columbia, SC
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Na Mira
Born 1982 in Lawrence, KS, on Kickapoo, Osage, Kansa, and Sioux lands
Lives in Los Angeles, CA, on Tongva, Gabrielino, Kizh, and Chumash lands
Alejandro “Luperca” Morales
Born 1990 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Lives in Monterrey, Mexico
Moved by the Motion
Founded 2016 by Wu Tsang and Tosh Basco
Terence Nance
Born 1982 in Dallas, TX
Lives in America
Woody De Othello
Born 1991 in Miami, FL
Lives in Oakland, CA
Adam Pendleton
Born 1984 in Richmond, VA
Lives in New York, NY
N. H. Pritchard
Born 1939 in New York, NY
Died 1996 in eastern Pennsylvania
Lucy Raven
Born 1977 in Tucson, AZ
Lives in New York, NY
Charles Ray
Born 1953 in Chicago, IL
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Jason Rhoades
Born 1965 in Newcastle, CA
Died 2006 in Los Angeles, CA
Andrew Roberts
Born 1995 in Tijuana, Mexico
Lives in Mexico City and Tijuana, Mexico
Guadalupe Rosales
Born 1980 in Redwood City, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Veronica Ryan
Born 1956 in Plymouth, Montserrat
Lives in London, United Kingdom, and New York, NY
Rose Salane
Born 1992 in New York, NY
Lives in Queens, NY
Michael E. Smith
Born 1977 in Detroit, MI
Lives in Providence, RI
Sable Elyse Smith
Born 1986 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Awilda Sterling-Duprey
Born 1947 in San Juan, PR
Lives in San Juan, PR
Rayyane Tabet
Born 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon
Lives in Beirut, Lebanon, and San Francisco, CA
Denyse Thomasos
Born 1964 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Died 2012 in New York, NY
Trinh T. Minh-ha
Born in Hanoi, Vietnam
Lives in Berkeley, CA
WangShui
Born 1986 in USA
Lives in New York, NY
Eric Wesley
Born 1973 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Dyani White Hawk
Sičangu Lakota
Born 1976 in Madison, WI
Lives in Minneapolis, MN
Kandis Williams
Born 1985 in Baltimore, MD
Lives in Los Angeles, CA and Brooklyn, NY
