Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino, ECHO POSITION: Poster, poster accompanying performance and installation by Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino, 2021. Digital C-print, wood, and glass. Collection of the artists; image courtesy the artists.
The Whitney Museum of American Art presents a dynamic lineup of public programs featuring 2022 Whitney Biennial artists and curators offered through August 2022.
For Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept, the Whitney Museum of American Art will host over thirty public programs that feature the artists and ideas represented in the landmark exhibition. A showcase of the most relevant art and ideas of our time, the 2022 Whitney Biennial activates the entire Museum, engaging the galleries, outdoor spaces, and surrounding community from April 6 through September 5, with parts of the exhibition and programming continuing through October 23, 2022.
Beginning April 8, virtual and in-person programs presented in conjunction with Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept include conversations, readings, courses, tours, and panel discussions that investigate topics such as the capacity of abstraction, community and collectivity, and notions of American identity. These public programs provide opportunities to hear directly from exhibition co-curators Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, and David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, as well as participating artists Emily Barker, Nayland Blake, Rindon Johnson, Julie Tolentino and Ivy Kwan Arce, Rayyane Tabet, and representatives from A Gathering of the Tribes. Additional Biennial programs will be announced at a later date.
The Whitney will continue to offer in-person and virtual tours for all audiences during the exhibition as well as signature programs such as Open Studio for Teens and Ethics of Looking. Many Biennial programs will have Spanish interpretation, ASL interpreters, and live captioning/CART. For additional programs or to request accessibility accommodations, please visit whitney.org/education.
The Whitney also offers pay-what-you-wish admission for all visitors each Friday from 7 pm to 10 pm. Visitors are invited to enjoy the Museum’s exhibitions along with drinks at the Studio Bar and sunset views on the Museum’s terraces. Advance registration is recommended. More information about pay what-you-wish Fridays can be found at whitney.org/ticketing-info-pay-what-you-wish.
For more information about Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept, event updates, and registration details, please visit whitney.org/biennial2022.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
A Gathering of the Tribes: Marathon Reading
April 8, 3–9 pm ET and April 9, 12–6 pm ET
In-Person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Free with Museum admission
Virtual: Live-stream on YouTube; Free with registration
The Whitney will host a two-day marathon poetry reading honoring the history of A Gathering of the Tribes, a nonprofit arts organization founded by poet, playwright, and novelist Steve Cannon. This event is organized by Chavisa Woods, Executive Director of A Gathering of the Tribes, with hosts Saida Agostini, Regie Cabico, Sanina Clark, Patricia Spears Jones, Sheila Maldonado, Willie Perdomo, Danny Shot, Jeanne Thornton, and Bakar Wilson. Each host has curated an hour of readings by poets of their choosing, who will share original works. Each day includes a live soundscape created by multimedia artist Tracie Dawn Williams in collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Enriquez, including recordings of conversations with Steve Cannon.
A Gathering of the Tribes began in 1991 as a literary magazine that incorporated as a nonprofit arts organization in 1993. The organization continues to provide a platform for diverse, traditionally underrepresented artists and writers. A Gathering of the Tribes is represented in the 2022 Whitney Biennial with an installation on the Museum’s sixth floor, drawn from Cannon’s personal effects and the Tribes archive.
Open Studio for Teens: 2022 Biennial
Fridays, April 8, April 29, May 6, May 13, and May 27
In-Person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Free for teens. Pick up a ticket in the lobby of the Museum
High school students in grades 9–12 are invited to Open Studio for Teens, a free art-making program on select Fridays to explore artists and themes found in the 2022 Whitney Biennial. This spring, the Museum will work with contemporary artists to create and learn new techniques with art projects inspired by the artists in the 2022 Whitney Biennial. A Gathering of Tribes joins the program on April 29 and artist Rindon Johnson joins us on May 27.
Whitney Signs Online: 2022 Biennial
Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, May 7, 2 pm ET
Virtual: Via Zoom; Free with registration
For this program, audiences will experience an online presentation on Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept, led by a Deaf educator. Participants can join the event early to mingle from 1:30–2 pm.
Whitney Signs Online is an ongoing series that takes place on the first Saturday afternoon of each month. Expert Deaf educators present Whitney exhibitions and works from the Museum’s collection in ASL. Voice interpretation is not offered for this program.
Ask a Curator: 2022 Whitney Biennial
Tuesday, April 12, 7 pm ET
Virtual: Via Zoom; Free with registration
Explore Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept with co-organizers David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards. Surveying the landscape of American art and shaping the cultural conversation since 1932, the eightieth edition of the Biennial features an intergenerational and interdisciplinary group of sixty-three artists and collectives. For this event, Breslin and Edwards will provide an overview of this expansive exhibition followed by an opportunity for audience members to ask questions.
Ask a Curator is an ongoing virtual event series that provides audiences an intimate look into the realization of Whitney exhibitions and allows for open conversation with the curators at the helm of each show.
Ideology, Ableism, and Capitalism: A Talk by Emily Barker
Wednesday, April 13, 7 pm ET
In-Person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Free with registration
Virtual: Live-stream on YouTube; Free with registration
2022 Whitney Biennial artist Emily Barker will speak about their practice and aims to show how “the seemingly mundane built environment and the mass production of objects harm people every day.” Barker discusses how their artistic and intellectual formation led to their intersectional critique of everyday objects and architecture to reveal how ableism is inherent to capitalism.
For the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Barker presents Kitchen (2019), a translucent plastic replica of a kitchen with exaggerated dimensions based on the artist’s experiences using a wheelchair. Also on view is Barker’s Death by 7,865 Paper Cuts (2019), an orderly column of photocopied medical bills and documents from three years of their life.
Verbal Description Online: 2022 Biennial
Friday, April 22 and May 20, 10 am ET
Virtual: Via Zoom; Free with registration
Verbal Description Online provides an opportunity for visitors who are blind or have low vision to experience Whitney exhibitions through vivid description. Led by Verbal Description Educators, this session will focus on Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept and the artworks presented in this expansive, multi-floor installation. Sessions are ninety minutes in length and available through Zoom and over the phone.
Immigrant Justice Night
Thursday, April 28, 6-8 pm ET
In-Person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Free with registration
The Whitney will host an evening of resource sharing, gallery tours, and artmaking dedicated to immigrant and undocumented communities. The event is held in association with the Museum’s community partners, including The Door, People’s Theater Project, and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. Youth, families, teachers, and community members have the opportunity to hear directly from 2022 Whitney Biennial artist Rayyane Tabet and learn more about his artwork 100 Civics Questions (2022), which is centered around the United States naturalization exam.
Course: Inside the Whitney Biennial
Thursdays, April 28, May 5, and 12, 6 pm ET
Virtual: Via Zoom; Free with registration
This three-week course, taught by Josh Lubin-Levy, the Whitney’s Joan Tisch Senior Teaching Fellow, gives participants an in-depth view of the works in Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept. The course examines questions of American identity, including tensions between the personal and political, and the precarious and improvised nature of our current moment. An open Q&A and discussion follow each one hour session.
Josh Lubin-Levy is a Joan Tisch Senior Teaching Fellow at the Whitney and recently completed his Ph.D. in performance studies at New York University. He currently teaches in the Department of Visual Studies at the New School and Wesleyan University.
Tours for NYC Teachers: Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept
Friday, April 29, 4 pm ET
In-Person: Check-in held in the Lobby; Free with advance registration
New York City teachers are invited to a special viewing of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept. Teachers may sign up for a tour of the exhibition, including guided discussion and gallery activities, led by Whitney Educators. Teachers are also welcome to explore the exhibition galleries independently. More information on additional resources for teachers, including the Biennial Teacher Toolkit and K-12 programs, is available on whitney.org.
Becoming American
Fridays, April 29, May 20, June 17, July 29, and August 19, 5 pm ET
In-Person: Eighth Floor Hurst Family Galleries; Free with admission
In the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Rayyane Tabet will present works from his series Becoming American (2021–), including his project 100 Civics Questions (2022). For the project, Tabet has populated the Museum with questions from the US naturalization test. Tabet, who is applying for citizenship himself, frequently uses the matter and material of his life as inspiration for creating artworks that examine larger histories of colonialism and belonging. Using the series Becoming American as a starting point, these tours invite Museum visitors to consider fundamental questions of United States history, government, and civic participation in connection with the Whitney’s collection and architecture.
Cassandra Press Seminars: Whiteness, Dissonance, and Horror
May 7, 1 pm ET
In-Person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater
Virtual: Via Zoom
On the occasion of their inclusion in the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Cassandra Press, an artist-run publishing and educational platform, presents two seminars drawn from their course catalogue: Whiteness, Dissonance and Horror, and Zombie Politics. The sessions are taught by Biennial artist and Cassandra Press founder Kandis Williams and manuel arturo abreu, a poet and artist from the Bronx who works with text, moving image, ephemeral sculpture, and what is at hand.
Both Kandis Williams and Cassandra Press are represented in the 2022 Whitney Biennial. Williams presents Death of A (2021), a video based on the structure of Arthur Miller’s 1949 play Death of a Salesman. Cassandra Press presents research on art fairs and art markets in New York from 1776 to today as a large-scale installation of digital maps.
Pride Month Celebration with Nayland Blake
Thursday, June 9, 7–10 pm ET
In-person: First Floor, Lobby
The Whitney presents its annual celebration of Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community in collaboration with 2022 Whitney Biennial artist Nayland Blake. The free, after-hours event will feature a range of activities for audiences 21+. Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept will be open for viewing during the event.
As part of the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Blake will present a replica of The Mineshaft, an iconic and now shuttered gay bar located in the Meatpacking District in the 1980s. The replica is installed in the Museum’s lobby and will be on view during this event.
Biennial Queer Teen Night
Friday, June 10, 4–7 pm ET
In-person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Free for teens
The Whitney will host a dedicated evening designed for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. The Museum’s Youth Insights Leaders will lead an evening of art-making, performances, dancing, giveaways, and a tour of the 2022 Whitney Biennial.
Whitney Pride Celebration
Saturday, June 11*
To honor our LGBTQ+ community, families, and allies, the Whitney will host a day-long celebration of Pride Month outside the Museum on Gansevoort Street. Visitors can enjoy special installations, art making, and giveaways, and the 2022 Whitney Biennial.
*Rain date on Sunday, June 12
Activism for Global Pandemic Equity
Friday, August 5, 4 pm ET
In-person: Third Floor, Susan and John Hess Theater; Tickets are required ($10 adults; $8 members, students, seniors, and visitors with a disability)
Virtual: Via Zoom; Free with registration
2022 Whitney Biennial artists Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino bring together an international group of HIV/AIDS activists to consider the legacies of people whose work has laid the foundation for advances in prevention, treatment, and vaccine access and equity for diseases like HIV and COVID-19. Artist and activist Ivy Kwan Arce will speak alongside Mark Harrington, HIV/AIDS researcher and Executive Director of Treatment Action Group, and Kenly Sikwese, Coordinator at the African Community Advisory Board (AFROCAB). This program is part of Echo Position, a collaboration between Arce and Tolentino, which centers the role of women—particularly women of color—in HIV/AIDS activism.
Curatorial Credit
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept is co-curated by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, and Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Mia Matthias, Curatorial Assistant; Gabriel Almeida Baroja, Curatorial Project Assistant; and Margaret Kross, former Senior Curatorial Assistant.
Exhibition Support
Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept is presented by Tiffany & Co.
Generous support is provided by Sotheby’s.
Generous support is also provided by Judy Hart Angelo; The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston; Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts; Lise and Michael Evans; John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Kevin and Rosemary McNeely, Manitou Fund; The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation; The Rosenkranz Foundation; Anne-Cecilie Engell Speyer and Robert Speyer; and the Whitney’s National Committee.
Major support is provided by The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and an anonymous donor.
Significant support is provided by 2022 Biennial Committee Co-Chairs: Jill Bikoff, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Barbara and Michael Gamson, Miyoung Lee, Bernard Lumpkin, Julie Mehretu, Fred Wilson; 2022 Biennial Committee Members: Philip Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, Sarah Arison and Thomas Wilhelm, Candy and Michael Barasch, James Keith (JK) Brown and Eric Diefenbach, Eleanor and Bobby Cayre, Alexandre and Lori Chemla, Suzanne and Bob Cochran, Jenny Brorsen and Richard DeMartini, Fairfax Dorn and Marc Glimcher, Stephen Dull, Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, Melanie Shorin and Greg S. Feldman, Jeffrey & Leslie Fischer Family Foundation, Cindy and Mark Galant, Christy and Bill Gautreaux, Debra and Jeffrey Geller Family Foundation, Aline and Gregory Gooding, Janet and Paul Hobby, Harry Hu, Peter H. Kahng, Michèle Gerber Klein, Ashley Leeds and Christopher Harland, Dawn and David Lenhardt, Jason Li, Marjorie Mayrock, Stacey and Robert Morse, Daniel Nadler, Opatrny Family Foundation, Orentreich Family Foundation, Nancy and Fred Poses, Marylin Prince, Eleanor Heyman Propp, George Wells and Manfred Rantner, Martha Records and Richard Rainaldi, Katie and Amnon Rodan, Jonathan M. Rozoff, Linda and Andrew Safran, Subhadra and Rohit Sahni, Erica and Joseph Samuels, Carol and Lawrence Saper, Allison Wiener and Jeffrey Schackner, Jack Shear, Annette and Paul Smith, the Stanley and Joyce Black Family Foundation, Robert Stilin, Rob and Eric Thomas-Suwall, and Patricia Villareal and Tom Leatherbury; as well as the Alex Katz Foundation, Further Forward Foundation, the Kapadia Equity Fund, Gloria H. Spivak, and an anonymous donor.
Funding is also provided by special Biennial endowments created by Melva Bucksbaum, Emily Fisher Landau, Leonard A. Lauder, and Fern and Lenard Tessler.
Curatorial research and travel for this exhibition were funded by an endowment established by Rosina Lee Yue and Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.
New York magazine is the exclusive media sponsor.
About the Whitney
The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), houses the foremost collection of American art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Mrs. Whitney, an early and ardent supporter of modern American art, nurtured groundbreaking artists when audiences were still largely preoccupied with the Old Masters. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has been championing the most innovative art of the United States for ninety years. The core of the Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists, the Whitney has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.
Visitor Information
The Whitney Museum of American Art is located at 99 Gansevoort Street between Washington and West Streets, New York City. Public hours are: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10:30 am–6 pm; Friday, 10:30 am–10 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 11 am–6 pm. Closed Tuesday. Member-only hours are: Saturday and Sunday, 10:30–11 am. Visitors eighteen years and under and Whitney members: FREE. Admission is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays, 7–10 pm.
Face coverings are required for all visitors, and timed tickets must be booked in advance. In planning your visit, please review the Whitney’s complete safety guidelines at whitney.org/visit.
