Whitney Biennial 2019

The Whitney Biennial descends on New York every two years and never fails to spark conversation. The 2019 edition was among the youngest in over a decade, curated by Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley. Director for Programs and Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator described the pair as "two of the most compelling and engaged curatorial voices of our moment, with broad and sensitive instincts for artistic and cultural relevance." That instinct was felt throughout, with the exhibition centering on the state of American culture and how contemporary artists are responding to a country marked by deepening social and economic inequality.

My favorite work was Alexandra Bell's piece on the fifth floor. Bell revisits coverage from the New York Daily News of the 1989 Central Park Five case, in which five innocent teenage boys of color were wrongly convicted of assaulting a white female jogger in Central Park. Through highlighting headlines, annotating body text, and redacting photographs, Bell exposes the latent failures in journalistic objectivity and interrogates how language can perpetuate racialized violence.

Working in media, this stopped me in my tracks. It is easy to forget just how powerful and manipulative the press can be. Words printed for millions to read, believe, and spread carry an enormous weight, and those of us working in this space have a real responsibility not to take that lightly.

Additional highlights:

1. Installation view of Ragen Moss’s work 2. Nicole Eisenman, “Procession” (2019) 3. Martine Syms, “People Who Aren’t Friends or Lovers or Exes” (2019) 4. Jennifer Packer, “Untitled” 5. Installation view with a glimpse of Brendan Fernandes’s “The Master and Form” (2018-2019) performance, which is part of the Whitney Biennial (photo by Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)