The Whitney Museum of American Artwork has chosen the curators of its subsequent biennial exhibition, to open in 2026: Marcela Guerrero, recognized for specialising in Latin American artwork, and Drew Sawyer, a pictures curator who not too long ago got here to the Whitney after a tenure on the Brooklyn Museum.
The Whitney Biennial, probably the most high-profile exhibits in america, has come to the Whitney each two years since its inaugural flip in 1973 (previous to which it occurred yearly), setting the tone for the up to date artwork scene domestically and overseas, and recurrently stirring up controversy. It is usually probably the most costly museum exhibits of latest artwork resulting from commissioned items and artists’ charges, however the customer figures seem like price it—the 2024 version of the Whitney Biennial, which closes 11 August, has attracted almost 400,000 folks to the museum finally depend.
Guerrero was promoted from her assistant curatorial function on the museum following the success of her exhibition No existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Artwork within the Wake of Hurricane Maria (2022-23), which made headlines as the primary scholarly present on Puerto Rican artwork in america for 50 years. Sawyer broke floor on the Brooklyn Museum together with his much-praised exhibition Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, earlier than bringing his distinctive perspective to the Whitney. His first curatorial undertaking there, Mark Armijo McKnight: Decreation, opens 24 AUgust and can spotlight the rising artist’s spare, corporeal black-and-white pictures.
“I see the Biennial increasingly more as an engine that strikes the entire museum ahead,” Whitney director Scott Rothkopf advised The New York Instances. “They’re each incredible expertise scouts who suppose broadly and are in a position to synthesise actually attention-grabbing strands of latest artwork.”
Over 3,600 artists have taken half within the Biennial since its inception, and the exhibits have helped bolster the careers of artwork world stars together with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn Ligon and Julie Mehretu. Taking part curators have additionally been launched into the skilled stratosphere by the present, amongst them New Museum director Lisa Phillips and Studio Museum in Harlem director Thelma Golden, each co-organisers of the 1993 Whitney Biennial.
As Guerrero and Sawyer take into account their planning for the 2026 version, they’re taking over formidable themes. “The establishment has at all times paid consideration to how we outline America and what’s American artwork,” Sawyer advised Instances, “but additionally what these questions appear to be in relation to the remainder of the world. Quite a bit may occur within the subsequent two years—we have now a presidential election arising. We’re all fascinated by that and what the longer term may maintain.”
The 2026 Whitney Biennial would be the fourth version of the exhibition to be led by a pair of in-house curators. The present version was organised by Chrissie Iles, a curator on the museum, and Meg Onli, a Whitney curator-at-large based mostly in Los Angeles (on the time of her choice for the biennial, Onli was an impartial curator). The 2022 version was organised by director of curatorial initiatives David Breslin and director of curatorial affairs Adrienne Edwards. The chaotic 2019 version was led by Whitney curators Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley.
