Art
“In my beginning is my end.” The first line of T. S. Eliot’s poem “East Coker” — the second of his Four Quartets — came unexpectedly to mind when I returned for a last look at Richard Artschwager’s The Desert, a selection of pastels along with two paintings, at David Nolan Gallery. Artschwager’s mis
Art
Last week the Whitney Museum announced its plan for the 2014 Biennial, which entrusts three curators with organizing the exhibition, but not as collaborators. Rather, each individual will be responsible for a single floor of the museum, dividing it, as chief curator Donna De Salvo told The New York
Interview
CHICAGO — The 2014 Whitney Biennial won’t be like every biennial before it. The always anticipated art world event will partly be a response to the Occupy movement’s call to end the Whitney Biennial, which charged that the major exhibition was just another art world commercial interest, and it will
Art
Maybe the Whitney Museum’s exhibition Sinister Pop should be titled Discarding Pop. And by that I mean Pop as a label that implies a common mindset rather than a common set of tools.
News
In the New York Times, Carol Vogel reports on the future of the Whitney Biennial, that ever-controversial summary of American art. For the 2014 edition of the show, there are a few new surprises — mainly, that the old, monolithic model of curating has been totally dismantled.
Art
For anyone who has been following painting in New York since the beginning of the 21st century, it is not surprising that the mid-career survey devoted to Wade Guyton is currently the main attraction at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It is also not surprising that the show has been very well re
Art
Sharon Hayes can be a difficult artist to like. Her work often centers around "speech acts," which the wall text in her current exhibition at the Whitney defines as "when speech functions not only as communication but as action." Just beyond that text is an example: a barren area containing only a b
Art
On the surface of this well-fueled publicity blitz, Yayoi Kusama is a dotty (pun intended) old grandma all about fun, polka dots and puffy balloons, including her eye-popping window display for the Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. On the inside, which all the W magazine air kisse
News
Like a sad, jilted date, this year's recently closed Whitney Biennial was left without director, actor, musician and all-around creepster Vincent Gallo's promised film, entitled ironically Promises Written in Water. And apparently, Gallo didn't even call.
Opinion
Talk about art going big: the New York Times reported last night that the Whitney will mount an enormous Jeff Koons retrospective as its last hurrah in the Breuer building, before moving downtown in 2015. Probably out of necessity as much as for flair, the exhibition will take over the entire museum
Art
Once it seemed to matter — the high end, I mean. Art and money, when you put the two words together, would invariably lead to HirstMurakamiKoons unless they were referencing KoonsMurakamiHirst. And the crazy gushes of cash that went their way, and the way they flaunted it, became prime rib for gloss
Art
PARIS — In a recent article on AFC, Paddy Johnson argues that Werner Herzog’s piece in this year’s Whitney Biennial is essentially a throwaway. She sees Herzog’s contribution as a quick fix for inclusion that relies mainly on “bells and whistles” rather than substance. But her account is conspicuous