These Are the Artists in the 2026 Whitney Biennial

The Whitney Museum of American Art has named 56 participating artists, including duos and collectives, for its forthcoming Whitney Biennial 2026, organized by an in-house curatorial team including Marcela Guerrero, Drew Sawyer, Beatriz Cifuentes, and Carina Martinez.

Among the most recognizable names on the 82nd edition of the exhibition's roster are Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, performance artist Andrea Fraser, and Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa. This year's show will contend with what the museum described as "various forms of relationality, including interspecies kinships, familial relations, geopolitical entanglements, technological affinities, shared mythologies, and infrastructural supports."

The Whitney's announcement of artists comes at the end of a tumultuous year for the institution, during which it suspended its prestigious Independent Study Program after cancelling a performance on Palestinian mourning. The suspension drew condemnation, including allegations of anti-Palestinian censorship, from alumni and faculty.

Twenty-one artists on the biennial list were born outside of the United States, including in Vietnam, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Palestine, Japan, Iran, Iraq, and Puerto Rico. Among the artists born abroad is Baghdad-born, Los Angeles-based painter Ali Eyal, whose figurative works explore the impact of the American occupation of Iraq during his youth.

Dating back to 1932, the Whitney Biennial promotes itself as a representative sample of American art made in the prior two years. It's had its fair share of controversy over the years: Dana Schutz's painting of Emmett Till in an open casket faced intense backlash during the 2017 edition; several artists pulled out of the 2019 edition after Hyperallergic revealed the role of then-Vice Chair Warren Kanders in the use of tear gas against asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border, among other hotspots worldwide. The exhibition has often been criticized as "safe," though opinions vary.

The 2026 Whitney Biennial will open on March 8 against the backdrop of the Trump administration's crackdown on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). It remains to be seen if and how the participating artists will confront this new reality.

A list of artists, duos, and collectives participating in the 2026 biennial, as listed on the Whitney website, appears below.

Duos

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme 
Basel Abbas (he/him)
Born 1983 in Nicosia, Cyprus
Ruanne Abou-Rahme (she/her)
Born 1983 in Boston, MA
Live in Brooklyn, NY and Palestine

Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien
Enzo Camacho (they/them)
Born 1985 in Manila, Philippines
Ami Lien (they/them)
Born 1987 in Dallas, TX
Live in Berlin, Germany and New York, NY

Collectives

CFGNY (Daniel Chew, Ten Izu, Kirsten Kilponen, and Tin Nguyen)
Founded 2016
Based in Brooklyn, NY

kekahi wahi (Sancia Miala Shiba Nash and Drew K. Broderick)
Founded 2020
Based in Honolulu, Kona, Oʻahu, HI

Individual Artists

Kelly Akashi
Born 1983 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Altadena, CA

Kamrooz Aram (he/him)
Born 1978 in Shiraz, Iran
Lives in New York, NY

Ash Arder (she/they)
Born 1988 in Muscatawing (Flint, MI)
Lives in Waawiyatanong (Detroit, MI)

Teresa Baker (she/her)
Born 1985 in Mandan/Hidatsa
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Sula Bermudez-Silverman (she/her)
Born 1993 in New York, NY
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Zach Blas (he/him)
Born 1981 in Point Pleasant, WV
Lives in Toronto, Canada

Leo Castañeda (he/him)
Born 1988 in Cali, Colombia
Lives in Miami, FL

Nani Chacon (she/her)
Born 1980 in Gallup, NM
Lives in Albuquerque, NM
Navajo Nation

Maia Chao (she/her)
Born 1991 in Providence, RI
Lives in Philadelphia, PA

Joshua Citarella  (he/him)
Born 1987 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY

Mo Costello (she/her)
Born 1989 in Seattle, WA
Lives in Athens, GA

Taína H. Cruz (she/her)
Born 1998 in New York, NY
Lives in New Haven, CT

Carmen de Monteflores (she/they)
Born 1933 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Lives in Berkeley, CA

Ali Eyal (he/him)
Born 1994 in Baghdad, Iraq
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Andrea Fraser (she/her)
Born 1965 in Billings, MT
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Mariah Garnett (she/they)
Born 1980 in Portland, ME
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Ignacio Gatica
Born 1988 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in New York, NY and Santiago, Chile

Jonathan González (they/them)
Born 1991 in Queens, NY
Lives in New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA

Emilie Louise Gossiaux (they/them)
Born 1989 in New Orleans, LA
Lives in New York, NY

Kainoa Gruspe (he/him)
Born 1995 in Louisville, KY
Lives in Honolulu, HI

Martine Gutierrez (she/her)
Born 1989 in Berkeley, CA
Lives in New York, NY

Samia Halaby (she/her)
Born 1936 in Palestine
Lives in New York, NY

Raven Halfmoon (she/her)
Born 1991 in Oklahoma City, OK
Lives in Norman, OK
Caddo Nation

Nile Harris with Dyer Rhoads
Nile Harris (he/him)
Born 1995 in Miami, FL
Dyer Rhoads (he/him)
Born 1996 in Portland, ME
Live in Brooklyn, NY

Aziz Hazara (he/him)
Born 1992 in Wardak, Afghanistan
Lives in Berlin, Germany

Margaret Honda (she/her)
Born 1961 in San Diego, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Akira Ikezoe (he/him)
Born 1979 in Kochi, Japan
Lives in New York, NY

Mao Ishikawa (she/her)
Born 1953 in Okinawa under US Administration
Lives in Okinawa, Japan

Cooper Jacoby (he/him)
Born 1989 in Princeton, NJ
Lives in Miami, FL and Paris, France

David L. Johnson (he/him)
Born 1993 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY

Young Joon Kwak (they/them)
Born 1984 in Queens, NY
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Michelle Lopez (she/her)
Born 1970 in Bridgeport, CT
Lives in Philadelphia, PA

José Maceda (he/him)
Born 1917 in Manila, Philippines
Died 2004 in Quezon City, Philippines

Agosto Machado (he/him)
Born in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY 

Oswaldo Maciá (he/him)
Born 1960 in Cartegena de Indias, Colombia
Lives in Santa Fe, NM and London, United Kingdom

Emilio Martínez Poppe (he/him)
Born 1993 in Baltimore, MD
Lives in New York, NY

Isabelle Frances McGuire (she/her)
Born 1994 in Austin, TX
Lives in Chicago, IL

Kimowan Metchewais (he/him)
Born 1963 in Oxbow, SK, Canada
Died 2011 in Saint Paul, AB, Canada
Cree, Cold Lake First Nations

Nour Mobarak (she/her)
Born 1985 in Cairo, Egypt
Lives in Athens, Greece and Bainbridge Island, WA

Erin Jane Nelson (she/her)
Born 1989 in Neenah, WI
Lives in Santa Fe, NM

Precious Okoyomon (they/them)
Born 1993 in London, United Kingdom
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Aki Onda (they/them)
Born 1967 in Tenri, Nara, Japan
Lives in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan

Pat Oleszko (she/her)
Born 1947 in Detroit, MI
Lives in New York, NY

Malcolm Peacock
Born 1994 in Raleigh, NC
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Sarah M. Rodriguez
Born 1984 in Honolulu, HI 
Lives in Ojo Caliente, NM

Gabriela Ruiz (she/her)
Born 1991 in San Fernando Valley, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Jasmin Sian (she/her)
Born 1969 in the Philippines
Lives in New York, NY

Jordan Strafer (she/her)
Born 1990 in Miami, FL
Lives in New York, NY and Athens, Greece

Sung Tieu (she/her)
Born 1987 in Hai Duong, Vietnam
Lives in Berlin, Germany

Julio Torres
Born 1987 in San Salvador, El Salvador
Lives in New York, NY

Anna Tsouhlarakis (she/her)
Born 1977 in Lawrence, KS
Lives in Boulder, CO
Navajo Nation and Creek

Johanna Unzueta
Born 1974 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in Berlin, Germany and New York, NY

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