{"id":275721,"date":"2026-05-01T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/compte-rendu\/whitney-biennial-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T09:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:05:00","slug":"whitney-biennial-2","status":"publish","type":"compte-rendu","link":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/reviews\/whitney-biennial-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitney Biennial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
There is something subtly defiant about an exhibition that refuses to name itself. The Whitney Biennial 2026, organized by curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, arrives without a thematic title\u200a\u2014\u200aonly an invitation. Artists and visitors are not asked to solve a problem or answer a question but simply to tune in<\/em>, as if adjusting a dial across a wide frequency of moods, registers, and anxieties that together constitute the texture of American life right now. <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
On the surface, this might appear as a quiet curatorial retreat. Compared to recent editions of the biennial, which came with urgency and clear positions on identity, power, and crisis, this latest one feels more subdued. Some might call it toothless. Others might say that it lacks the electric charge that has defined the biennial. However, it appears that this year\u2019s curators have chosen to step back from the overarching thesis and instead reveal the behind-the-scenes mechanisms: the systems, structures, and relationships that silently organize contemporary life. The 2026 exhibition holds up a mirror to a nation in the midst of its own nervous breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exhibition starts in the basement, where visitors check coats and refresh themselves. As they ascend the stairs to the main floor, they encounter Sung Tieu\u2019s System\u2019s Void<\/em> (2026). This piece, installed in the stairwell and anchored by a mound of sand, features an industrial steel pipe spanning three levels. As they climb, visitors hear Tieu\u2019s sonic interpretation of danger signals from the hazardous gas systems at four fracking sites and see chemical codes and classification numbers projected into the stairwell. Tieu leverages the museum\u2019s stark architecture to craft an experiential prelude to the biennial. Upon reaching the main exhibition areas, visitors experience a series of rumbling and flashing warnings of a system failure\u200a\u2014\u200apossibly a metaphor for the world\u2019s current state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"Sung
Sung Tieu
<\/strong>System\u2019s Void<\/em>, installation view, 
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2024\u20132026.
Photo: Audrey Wang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Guerrero and Sawyer make several other efforts at reflecting the present across the two exhibition floors. On the sixth floor, each of Akira Ikezoe\u2019s three paintings\u200a\u2014\u200atitled, respectively, Frog Stories Around Nuclear Power Plant <\/em>(2025), Mole Stories Around Methane Gas <\/em>(2025), and Robot Stories Around Solar Panels <\/em>(2025)\u200a\u2014\u200aillustrates a circular economy in its respective society. The works seem to tell stories about the world\u2019s industries. Despite Ikezoe\u2019s tender gaze, which highlights the connections between humanity and nature, these paintings, when viewed alongside Tieu\u2019s alarming installation, create an ominous atmosphere, which is further accentuated by a selection of works by younger artists in the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"Akira
Akira Ikezoe<\/strong>
Frog Stories Around Nuclear Power Plant<\/em>, 
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2025.
Photo: Audrey Wang
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The underlying systems that support society are highlighted in the work of two University of Pennsylvania graduates, Emilio Mart\u00ednez Poppe and David L. Johnson. At the centre of a room on the fifth floor, Mart\u00ednez Poppe\u2019s installation, Civic Views <\/em>(2025), features a metal-frame room covered with die-cast aluminum panels displaying photographs of views from office windows. These images were taken at government agencies in Philadelphia, reproduced life size and installed at the same height as the windows were at their original locations. On the back of each image are testimonials from employees who occupy these office spaces. The interviews offer insights into the bureaucrats who keep this enormous, invisible organism\u200a\u2014\u200anamely, \u201cgovernment\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200amoving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson\u2019s installation features a wall covered with public signs removed from privately owned public spaces. Following passage of a 1961 zoning resolution, private developers in New York City were allowed to build taller buildings in exchange for creating park-like public spaces. These spaces are public, however, in name only. In Rule <\/em>(2024\u200a\u2013<\/em>\u200aongoing), Johnson displays signs with the rules that restrict access to them, revealing the invisible legal regime that controls citizens\u2019 movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many other notable works that comment on the system of perception. In his Mutual Life <\/em>(2025) series, Cooper Jacoby uses AI models to create simulated memories. For her architectural intervention Film (Whitney Museum of American Art)<\/em> (2026), Margaret Honda has installed colour-balancing and neutral-density cinematography lighting gels in stairwell windows to create an ambient environment that changes through the daily sunlight cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guerrero and Sawyer have also included works that focus on faith alongside infrastructure commentary. Nanibah Chacon\u2019s outdoor sculptures Our Gods Walk Among Us (1)<\/em>, (2)<\/em>, (3)<\/em> (2026), blending Din\u00e9 sand paintings of God with designs of the electrical towers in Navajo Nation, reflect the ambivalence of the exhibition. For Sun Twins<\/em> (2023), Raven Halfmoon uses the Caddo coil-pottery tradition to depict two identical figures symbolizing familial bonds through art, connecting her to family and ancestors. The works are juxtaposed with tangential narratives to explore systems shaping our lives and their historical roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"Margaret
Margaret Honda
<\/strong>Film (Whitney Museum of American Art)<\/em>, installation view, 2026.
Photo: Audrey Wang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Nanibah
Nanibah Chacon
<\/strong>Our Gods Walk Among Us (1), (2), (3)<\/em>, installation view, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2026.
Photo: Audrey Wang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Because of this loose curatorial framework, fifty-six artists, duos, and collectives are given space not to illustrate an argument but to simply exist, their work trusted to speak for itself. This is not the absence of structure; it is a kind of anti-structure, built on trust rather than assertion. For example, the Brooklyn-based collective CFGNY (Daniel Chew, Ten Izu, Kirsten Kilponen, and Tin Nguyen) has constructed a room from wooden planks and translucent plastic. The grotesque structure, Continuous Fractures Generating New Yields<\/em> (2025), houses porcelain sculptures cast from \u201cmade in China\u201d items widely available at dollar stores across North America. The work comments on how Western consumers assign value to traits associated with the East and on the system that sustains that perception to keep the economy moving. CFGNY reverses this dynamic by presenting glazed porcelain and epoxy sculptures created from negative impressions of the inexpensive items. They also release a giant Frankenstein centipede plushie, simultaneously embodying fright and cuteness, to crawl in and out of the wall framing. The structure lacks a door; it is open and welcoming. However, to fully experience the installation, viewers might need to have a little trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word \u201ctrust\u201d repeatedly emerges and holds significance here. The artists believe in the curators\u2019 interpretation of their work, and the curators trust the artists\u2019 integrity and vision. This mutual understanding might seem like standard professional courtesy. However, in this context, it feels more profound and delicate. We live in times of fractured alliances, changing realities, and widespread institutional insincerity. Sincere, open trust\u200a\u2014\u200awithout hesitation\u200a\u2014\u200abecomes a stand or statement. The curators might even see it as a political gesture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where the exhibition\u2019s reticence begins to show its teeth. The introspective tone and absence of overt provocation might not stem from indifference but could reflect an honest confrontation with a sensation of helplessness and inertia\u200a\u2014\u200athe strange stillness that occurs when the scope of a problem outstrips available solutions. The art world, like society at large, seems to be losing confidence in the capacity of images and gestures to instigate change. The biennial is presented not as a solution but as a humble, perhaps enduring practice: collectively paying attention, trusting that mere observation still matters\u200a\u2014\u200aespecially when consensus on what we are seeing eludes us. Perhaps that\u2019s exactly the intention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whitney Museum of American Art,<\/strong> New York<\/br><\/br>March 8\u200a\u2013\u200aAugust 23, 2026<\/br>","protected":false},"author":6506,"featured_media":275698,"template":"","categories":[884],"numeros":[8014],"disciplines":[],"statuts":[],"checklist":[],"auteurs":[947],"artistes":[8064,8046,8114,8115,8116,8060,8048,6652],"thematiques":[],"type_compte-rendu":[],"class_list":["post-275721","compte-rendu","type-compte-rendu","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","numeros-117-crip","auteurs-tak-pham-en","artistes-akira-ikezoe-en","artistes-cfgny-en","artistes-cooper-jacoby","artistes-david-l-johnson","artistes-emilio-martinez-poppe","artistes-margaret-honda-en","artistes-nanibah-chacon-en","artistes-sung-tieu-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/compte-rendu\/275721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/compte-rendu"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/compte-rendu"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"numeros","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/numeros?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"statuts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/statuts?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"checklist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/checklist?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"auteurs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/auteurs?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"artistes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artistes?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"thematiques","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thematiques?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"type_compte-rendu","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_compte-rendu?post=275721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}