CalArtians Among Artists Selected for Whitney Biennial

CalArtians are among the artists selected for The Whitney Biennial, held May 17-Sept. 22 in New York. | Image: Ed Lederman

On Monday (Feb. 25), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, announced the 75 artists that have been asked to present work at the 2019 Whitney Biennial later this spring.

Included in the list for the exhibition — considered the country’s pre-eminent survey in contemporary American art — are CalArts alums Todd Gray (Art BFA 79, MFA 89) and Gala Porras-Kim (Art MFA 09); and School of Art faculty Martine Syms. Paul Sepuya, a visiting faculty member of the School of Art’s Program in Photography and Media has also been selected.

Co-organized by two Whitney curators, Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley, the artists range from emerging to well-established individuals and collectives who are working in painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, film and video, photography, performance and sound.

The biennial is no stranger to controversy, and Chicago-based, cross-disciplinary artist Michael Rakowitz withdrew from the exhibition before the list of participants was released. Rakowitz, a 2018 Visual Art recipient of The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, is protesting against a museum vice chairman whose company “manufactures equipment, including body armor and tear gas, for law enforcement agencies and militaries,” according to The New York Times. However, those in Los Angeles will be able to view the artist’s first exhibition in the city as Michael Rakowitz: Dispute Between the Tamarisk and the Date Palm opens at REDCAT on March 9 and is on view through June 2.

The 2019 edition of the Whitney Biennial runs from May 17 through Sept. 22.