JASON RHOADES and JAMES WELLING SELECTED FOR 2008 WHITNEY BIENNIAL, OPENING MARCH 6
New York, November 16, 2007 -- The curatorial team for the 2008 Whitney Biennial has selected 81 artists for the exhibition, which opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, on March 6, and runs through June 1, 2008. Since its founding in 1932, the Biennial has evolved into the Whitney’s signature exhibition as well as the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the
United States today. The exhibition will occupy the entire Museum, with the exception of the fifth floor, which is devoted to the permanent collection.
The 2008 Biennial is curated by Henriette Huldisch, Assistant Curator at the Whitney, and Shamim M. Momin, Associate Curator at the Whitney and Branch Director and Curator of the Whitney Museum at Altria, and overseen by Donna De Salvo, the Whitney’s Chief Curator and Associate Director for Programs. Three advisors worked with the curatorial team throughout the process: Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Bill Horrigan, Director of the Media Arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University; and Linda Norden, independent curator and writer.
For the first time, the Whitney is collaborating with the Park Avenue Armory and Art Production Fund (APF), to provide the Biennial with a second venue in the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building, at Park Avenue and 67th Street. The Armory will be the setting for a series of performances, temporary installations, events, and other public programs by Biennial artists from March 4 to March 22, creating an opportunity to present works that could not be accommodated within the Whitney’s walls and remaining true to the fluid, interactive way in which these works were conceived.
Donna De Salvo noted, "The Biennial is a laboratory, a way of 'taking the temperature' of what is happening now and putting it on view. It influences our thinking on multiple levels and, for the Whitney, translates directly into the choices we make about our exhibitions and collections. In dealing with the art of the present, there are no easy assessments, only multiple points of entry. For the Whitney, and for our public, we hope the Biennial is one way in."
New York, November 16, 2007 -- The curatorial team for the 2008 Whitney Biennial has selected 81 artists for the exhibition, which opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, on March 6, and runs through June 1, 2008. Since its founding in 1932, the Biennial has evolved into the Whitney’s signature exhibition as well as the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the
United States today. The exhibition will occupy the entire Museum, with the exception of the fifth floor, which is devoted to the permanent collection.
The 2008 Biennial is curated by Henriette Huldisch, Assistant Curator at the Whitney, and Shamim M. Momin, Associate Curator at the Whitney and Branch Director and Curator of the Whitney Museum at Altria, and overseen by Donna De Salvo, the Whitney’s Chief Curator and Associate Director for Programs. Three advisors worked with the curatorial team throughout the process: Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Bill Horrigan, Director of the Media Arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University; and Linda Norden, independent curator and writer.
For the first time, the Whitney is collaborating with the Park Avenue Armory and Art Production Fund (APF), to provide the Biennial with a second venue in the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building, at Park Avenue and 67th Street. The Armory will be the setting for a series of performances, temporary installations, events, and other public programs by Biennial artists from March 4 to March 22, creating an opportunity to present works that could not be accommodated within the Whitney’s walls and remaining true to the fluid, interactive way in which these works were conceived.
Donna De Salvo noted, "The Biennial is a laboratory, a way of 'taking the temperature' of what is happening now and putting it on view. It influences our thinking on multiple levels and, for the Whitney, translates directly into the choices we make about our exhibitions and collections. In dealing with the art of the present, there are no easy assessments, only multiple points of entry. For the Whitney, and for our public, we hope the Biennial is one way in."
