Whitney Biennial Opens Today
The Whitney Biennial 2026 opens today with 56 artists, featuring immersive soundscapes, rooftop sculptures, and digital works by Samia Halaby. The exhibition highlights intergenerational dialogue between its youngest and oldest participating artists, with digital art having a prominent presence after 300+ studio visits.
This year's Whitney Biennial is curated by Marcela Guerrero, the museum's first curator specializing in Latinx art, and Drew Sawyer, the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography. They undertook a year-long research process, conducting over 300 physical and virtual studio visits to select the 56 artists and collectives featured. The exhibition intentionally fosters a dialogue across generations, with the youngest participating artist being 27 and the oldest 92. This edition of the biennial has a notable focus on digital art, including the pioneering "kinetic paintings" of Samia Halaby, which she creates through self-taught computer programming. Some of her pieces on display even reveal the Amiga DOS and BASIC code she used to create them. On the museum's rooftop terraces, visitors will encounter striking sculptural installations. Kelly Akashi's "Monument (Altadena)" is a ghostly replica of the chimney that was the only part of her home to survive a 2025 wildfire, meticulously reconstructed in glass. Another commanding piece is Raven Halfmoon's nine-foot-tall ceramic sculpture, "Too Ancient to Care," which claims space for her Caddo Nation culture. The theme of "relationality" is explored through deeply personal works. Emilie Louise Gossiaux's "Kong Play" features 100 ceramic versions of her late guide dog's favorite chew toy, imagining a joyful afterlife for her companion. Malcolm Peacock's sculpture of a redwood tree is intricately constructed from 3,500 hand-braided strands, weaving in excerpts from the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. Immersive soundscapes are a key feature of the exhibition. Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme present a powerful three-channel video and sound installation titled "Until we became fire and fire us." Another sound-based work is Oswaldo Maciá's "Requiem for the Insects," which contributes to the moody and contemplative atmosphere of the show. The curatorial approach extends beyond the traditional borders of the United States, including artists from places impacted by the reach of U.S. power. The biennial features artists from Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Palestine, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Vietnam, broadening the conversation about what "American art" means today.
