Whitney Biennial 2014

by Stuart Comer, Anthony Elms, Michelle Grabner

A striking accompaniment to the 2014 biennial exhibition, which presents the perspectives of three innovative guest curators

The Whitney Biennial, the Museum’s signature exhibition, has charted some of the most exciting new work in contemporary art since it was first introduced in 1932. Three guest curators—Stuart Comer, Anthony Elms, and Michelle Grabner—offer diverse views of contemporary art today. Whitney Biennial 2014 serves as a record of this historic exhibition, featuring the work of almost 100 artists working in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, film, dance, and performance. Divided into three distinct sections presenting each curator’s unique perspective, this superb resource features specially commissioned texts alongside curatorial essays and unique visual content prepared by the Biennial participants.

Genres: Art

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2014

Reviews

[Kacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why I enjoyed this method of encountering the art (as an entry point to further research and experience) more than the actual Biennial is beyond me- and apparently, going by other reviews- not a typical read of this.

[Steven Felicelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to identify an ethos, catch a trend in Art (beyond some, often peripheral, elements) is like trying to figure out what everybody's like now. The diversity is overwhelming, inspiring, depressing. And it's now virtually impossible to appreciate art/artists through one of these books (the way you can get some idea, if aura-less, of the work of Van Gogh, Monet, Kandinsky, et al. by looking at reproduced images). Most contemporary work is five-senses with the visual having become almost negligible and so trying to get a read on immersive installations, socio-political events, interactivity, technology, et al. can only be done on site.