The Whitney Museum in New York houses one of the world's foremost collections of modern and contemporary American art.
A look back at some of our favorite moments of 2012.
Clockwise from top left: Werner Herzog and Biennial curators Jay Sanders and Elisabeth Sussman discuss Herzog’s thoughts on contemporary art; Yayoi Kusama with her work Guidepost to the New Space at Hudson River Park Pier 45, installed on the occasion of her retrospective; and Bucksbaum award winner Sarah Michelson’s Devotion Study #1—The American Dancer at Whitney Biennial 2012.
Alicia Hall Moran & Jason Moran’s week-long Biennial residency included a cover of Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” with taiko drummers, among many other events.
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), Fireflies on the Water, 2002. © Yayoi Kusama. Photograph courtesy Robert Miller Gallery
This installation, one of Kusama’s “infinity mirror rooms,” was originally shown in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and is part of the Whitney’s collection. Fireflies goes on view June 13 in anticipation of a large Kusama retrospective, which opens July 12, 2012.
Elaine Reichek, There’s No Need, 2011. Hand embroidery on linen, 46 x 45 in. (116.8 x 114.3 cm). © Elaine Reichek; collection of the artist; courtesy Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York and Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica
Reichek’s work was on view as part of the 2012 Biennial.
Photograph via Flickr
Details of an installation shot of Nicole Eisenman’s monotypes, on view through Sunday, May 27 as part of the 2012 Biennial.
Installation photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Lutz Bacher, Baseballs II, 2011. The installation will be on view through June 3, 2012 as part of the Biennial.
Photograph by Bill Orcutt
As part of the Whitney Biennial, the artist K8 Hardy riffed on fashion pageantry, presenting a full-scale live runway show.
Lutz Bacher, Baseballs II, 2011. The installation will be on view through June 3, 2012 as part of the Biennial.
Photograph by Andrew Russeth via the New York Observer
Audio of filmmaker Werner Herzog’s talk with 2012 Biennial curators Jay Sanders and Elisabeth Sussman is now up on our website. Hearsay of the Soul, Herzog’s Biennial contribution is on view through May 27, 2012.
Photograph by Tiffany Oelfke
Kevin Jerome Everson’s feature film Quality Control screens May 23-27, 2012. The Biennial closes May 27.
John Kelsey, Depesrsion, Impoetnce, 2012.
Kelsey repurposed found language from spam emails for these “poems,” which he presents on paper featuring the old Whitney Museum insignia, the eagle. The lists of names indicate the emails’ senders, the titles are drawn from the subject lines, and the “stanzas” consist of the seemingly random, cut and pasted content of the messages.
Bottom right photograph by Tyko
John C. Welchman, co-director of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, gave a lovely presentation on Kelley’s work on May 20, 2012. One of Welchman’s slides, above, features photos of Kelley and his childhood home, which was the inspiration for his Mobile Homestead project.
The 2012 Biennial is dedicated to Mike Kelley.
K8 Hardy, Untitled Runway Show, May 20, 2012, featuring a runway created by fellow Biennial artist Oscar Tuazon.
Photograph © Paula Court
K8 Hardy presents her Untitled Runway Show at 4 pm and 5 pm this Sunday, May 20, 2012 as part of the Biennial.
Invitations by K8 Hardy
