The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York has released the list of artists in the 81st edition of the Whitney Biennial, opening to the public on March 20. Even Better Than the Real Thing, co-organized by Meg Onli and Chrissie Iles, will feature 69 artists and two collectives, listed at the end of this article.
The 2024 iteration, comprised of varying creators with diverse skillsets and perspectives as a nod to what participating artist Ligia Lewis called a “dissonant chorus,” presents a selection of work addressing themes such as defining reality in a realm overtaken by artificial intelligence, body and identity, history and contemporaneity, and land stewardship in the face of irreparable climate change.
“We have made an exhibition that unfolds as a set of relations, exploring the challenges of coming together in a fractured moment,” Onli and Iles explained in a statement. The 2024 Biennial includes work by five artists under the age of 30, and over half of the participants identify as women.
Historically, the Whitney Biennial has been an exhibition that draws controversy. In 2014, the Yams Collective dropped out of the Biennial over the inclusion of White artist Joe Scanlon’s “Donelle Woolford” (2005–) project, in which Scanlon impersonated a Black woman, and the boat rocked again during the 2017 Biennial over the display of painter Dana Schutz’s “Open Casket” (2016), her interpretation of the widely publicized photo of Emmett Till’s mutilated body that spawned outrage and protests. During the 2019 Biennial, various artists moved to withdraw their work in protest of the museum’s since-resigned vice chairman Warren Kanders, whose weapons manufacturing companies were tied to various instances of police violence around the world, as Hyperallergic first reported in 2018.
A complete list of the 2024 Whitney Biennial’s participants, including artists in the upcoming edition’s exhibition, film, and performance programs, is below.
Gallery Artists
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio (he/him)
Born 1990 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Dora Budor (she/her)
Born 1984 in Zagreb, Croatia
Lives in New York, NY
Seba Calfuqueo (she/her/they/them)
Born 1991 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in Ngulumapu, Wallmapu (Chile)
Demian DinéYazhi’ (they/them)
Born 1983 in Gallup, NM, (Diné Bikéyah [Navajo Nation])
Lives in Portland, OR, and elsewhere
Torkwase Dyson (she/her)
Born 1973 in Chicago, IL
Lives in Beacon, NY
JJJJJerome Ellis (any/all)
Born 1989 in Groton, CT
Lives in Norfolk, VA
Jes Fan (he/him/they/them)
Born 1990 in Scarborough, Canada
Lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Hong Kong
Nikita Gale
Born 1983 in Anchorage, AK, Dënéndeh and Dena’ina Ełnena
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
ektor garcia
Born 1985 in Red Bluff, CA
Lives in Mexico City, Mexico, and elsewhere
Pippa Garner (she/her)
Born 1942 in Evanston, IL
Lives in Long Beach, CA
Harmony Hammond (she/her)
Born 1944 in Chicago, IL
Lives in Galisteo, NM
Sharon Hayes (she/her)
Born 1970 in Baltimore, MD
Lives in Philadelphia, PA
Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst
Holly Herndon (she/her)
Born 1980 in Johnson City, TN
Mat Dryhurst (he/him)
Born 1984 in Birmingham, UK
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich (she/her)
Born 1987 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY
Suzanne Jackson (she/her)
Born 1944 in St. Louis, MO
Lives in Savannah, GA
Isaac Julien
Born 1960 in London, UK
Lives in London, UK, and Santa Cruz, CA
Lotus L. Kang (she/her)
Born 1985 in Toronto, Canada
Lives in New York, NY
Mary Kelly (she/her)
Born 1941 in Fort Dodge, IA
Lives in New York, NY
Carolyn Lazard (they/them)
Born 1987 in San Bernardino, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Dionne Lee (she/her/they/them)
Born 1988 in New York, NY
Lives in Columbus, OH
Ligia Lewis (she/her)
Born 1983 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Mary Lovelace O’Neal (she/her)
Born 1942 in Jackson, MS
Lives in Oakland, CA, and Merida, Mexico
Cannupa Hanska Luger (he/him)
Born 1979 in Fort Yates, ND (Standing Rock Reservation)
Lives in Glorieta, NM
K.R.M. Mooney (he/him)
Born 1990 in Seattle, WA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Dala Nasser
Born 1990 in Tyre, Lebanon
Lives in Beirut, Lebanon, and London, UK
Diane Severin Nguyen (she/her)
Born 1990 in Carson, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Karyn Olivier (she/her)
Born 1968 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Lives in Philadelphia, PA
B. Ingrid Olson
Born 1987 in Denver, CO
Lives in Chicago, IL
Eamon Ore-Giron (he/him)
Born 1973 in Tucson, AZ
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
People Who Stutter Create
(Jia Bin, Delicia Daniels, JJJJJerome Ellis, Conor Foran, Kristel Kubart)
Julia Phillips (she/her)
Born 1985 in Hamburg, Germany
Lives in Chicago, IL
Mavis Pusey (she/her)
Born 1928 in Retreat, Jamaica
Died 2019 in Falmouth, VA
Maja Ruznic (she/her)
Born 1983 in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Yugoslavia)
Lives in Placitas, NM
Ser Serpas (she/her)
Born 1995 in East Los Angeles, CA
Lives in New York, NY
Rose B. Simpson (she/her)
Born 1983 in Santa Fe, NM
Lives in Santa Clara Pueblo, NM
P. Staff (they/them)
Born 1987 in the UK
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Clarissa Tossin (she/her)
Born 1973 in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Tourmaline (she/her)
Born 1983 in Boston, MA
Lives in New York, NY
Charisse Pearlina Watson (she/her)
Born 1988 in Houston, TX
Lives in New York, NY
Kiyan Williams (they/them)
Born 1991 in Newark, NJ
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Carmen Winant (she/her)
Born 1983 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Columbus, OH
Takako Yamaguchi (she/her)
Born 1952 in Okayama, Japan
Lives in Santa Monica, CA
Constantina Zavitsanos (any/all)
Born 1977 in Reading, PA
Lives in New York, NY
Film Program Artists
Siku Allooloo (she/her)
Born 1986 in Yellowknife, Canada
Lives in Bowser, Canada
Seba Calfuqueo (she/her/they/them)
Born 1991 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in Ngulumapu, Wallmapu (Chile)
Christopher Harris (he/him)
Born 1962 in St. Louis, MO
Lives in Coralville, IA
Miranda Haymon
Born 1993 in Boston, MA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Ho Tzu Nyen (he/him)
Born 1976 in Singapore
Lives in Singapore
Yasmine Anlan Huang (she/her)
Born 1996 in Guangzhou, China
Lives in London, UK, and New York, NY
Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich (she/her)
Born 1987 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY
Aron Kantor (he/him/they/them)
Born 1978 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Kite (she/her)
Born 1990 in Sylmar, CA
Lives in Ancram, NY
Gbenga Komolafe and Tee Park
Gbenga Komolafe (they/them/he/him/she/her)
Born 2000 in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria
Tee Park (she/her)
Born 1999 in Seoul, South Korea
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Jenni Laiti (she/her)
Born 1981 in Anár, Sápmi (Inari, Finland)
Lives in Jåhkämåhkke, Sápmi (Jokkmokk, Sweden)
Shuang Li (she/her)
Born 1990 in Wuyi Mountains, China
Lives in Berlin, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland
Simon Liu (he/him)
Born 1987 in Hong Kong
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Nyala Moon (she/her)
Born 1992 in New York, NY
Lives in the Brooklyn, NY
Niillasaš-Jovnna Máreha Juhani Sunná Máret – Sunna Nousuniemi (they/them)
Born 1993 in Anár, Sápmi
Lives in Anár, Sápmi
Edward Owens (he/him)
Born 1949 in Chicago, IL
Died 2010 in Chicago, IL
Sydney Frances Pascal (she/her)
Born 1993 in Nanaimo, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada
Raqs Media Collective
(Jeebesh Bachi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta)
Riar Rizaldi (he/him)
Born 1990 in Bandung, Indonesia
Lives in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Penelope Spheeris (she/her)
Born 1945 in New Orleans, LA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Lada Suomenrinne (they/them)
Born 1995 in Murmansk, Russia
Lives in Espoo, Finland, and Njuorggán, Sápmi
Alisi Telengut (she/her)
Born 1989 in Inner Mongolia (Telengut and Mongolian nations)
Lives in Berlin, Germany, and Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada
Chanelle Tyson (they/them)
Born 1989 in Greensboro, NC
Lives in Los Angeles, CA
Zula Urchuud (she/her)
Born 1991 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Lives in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Performance Program Artists
Holland Andrews (they/them)
Born 1988 in Orange, CA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Debit (she/her)
Born 1986 in Monterrey, Mexico
Lives in New York, NY
JJJJJerome Ellis (any/all)
Born 1989 in Groton, CT
Lives in Norfolk, VA
Sarah Hennies (she/her)
Born 1979 in Louisville, KY
Lives in Red Hook, NY
Alex Tatarsky (they/them)
Born 1989 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY, and Philadelphia, PA
