When considering the Whitney and their controversial biennial exhibitions, I was reminded of historical cabinets of curiosity back in the Renaissance. Cabinets of curiosity are arguably the birth of the museum institution and were filled with strange and complex artifacts that intended on shocking the senses and shaking up the public’s perception of history, science, and reality. Given the imaginative and controversial mission statements of the cabinet of curiosities, I can see a similar goal in the Whitney’s biennials. In an attempt to provide the most contemporary subject matter and to challenge audiences, the Whitney brings highly political and shocking imagery to the forefront of the museum institution for discussion. It is this push for new and scandalous that makes the Whitney’s biennials so controversial; anything current and political can be deemed wildly controversial and make many people uncomfortable.

As intriguing as their mission statement seems, the Whitney has not always been successful or very sensitive to the issues they are attempting to portray. As mentioned in the discussion during Friday’s class, the issues surrounding the exhibition of the piece ‘Open Casket’ put an extremely negative light on the Whitney’s curatorial practices for their biennials. The piece in questions depicted an abstracted portrait of a black boy who had died by police brutality; the piece was so disturbing given that it was painted by a white woman and no consideration of the boy’s family was taken into account in the making or display of the painting.

I believe that the Whitney’s intentions of breaking the status quo and providing the most current discourse on contemporary art history is a valid mission, but I also believe the Whitney needs to be very careful in the display of such sensitive and political topics as race and violence. These issues and their connections to current art history are extremely important, but their present-day implications make them all the more subject for heated debate and possible offense.

 

Reading Sources:

1993 Biennial Exhibition. Whitney Museum of American Art, 1993.

“Whitney Biennial ’93.” Charlie Rose, charlierose.com/videos/15655.

Image Source:

“Whitney Biennial 1993.” Whitney Biennial 1993 | Whitney Museum of American Art, whitney.org/exhibitions/biennial-1993.