Art Review: Warhol and More At The Whitney Museum of American Art

We stepped to the dynamic and ever-changing Whitney Museum of American Art to see the newly-opened Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again, as well as revisit what’s opened and closing soon.

Always an exciting place to be, The Whitney has new shows to see at its sprawling Meatpacking District, New York City campus. Top of the list:

• Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again – on until 31 March 2019
• Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 – on until 14 April 2019
• Mary Corse: A Survey in Light – on until 25 November 2018 

Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again

This is a huge deal and a major step for both Warhol’s legacy as well as The Whitney’s ongoing effort to solidify its position as a major institution. Indeed, the Andy Warhol… is a significant physical undertaking and academic one. Occupying three floors of the Whitney, this is the largest retrospective in recent history, and a valuable one- looking from the beginning (Warhol’s formative years as an art student) all the way to his video works, audios, and of course prints and even occasional photography. 

But remember, Warhol started in the system – he was an in-demand illustrator and classic “artist” before looking inward and at the environment he was working in. Only later did he step into more self-referencing-ly commercial works. This is to mean the works were purely made in curiosity and charm of commercialism, not the aesthetic value of the item, per se.

Most of this show occupies the fifth floor of the Whitney, and is organized in sections divided loosely by era- early works, hand-painted things, reproductions, getting into performance and so on. The most remarkable pieces stand on their own- Elvis in silver, the flowers, one version of Marylin (not the best on). Some pieces have new meaning in real life, like the scale of Saturday Disaster (1964). It is large than humanity, but depicting a purely human scene of a car accident. It feels oddly present. Beyond this, soup cans and a series of Mao tucked away on a third floor hiding spot are highlights of this important show.

Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018

Enthusiastic, occasionally overwhelming, and deeply interactive, check out the comprehensive look at art in the world of computer technology, presented by Audi. This important genre of art introduces manipulation and viewer-interaction in a way no other forms have. It is wholly personal and interesting in its public setting of interaction. In such a setting, the gallery becomes a stage, and onlookers become your audience- accidental viewers who are newly curious or excited. There are seven sections to this show, ranging from Tamiko Thiel’s augmented reality seabed to Nam June Paik (1932-2006), Fin de Siècle II, 1989, which is a massive series of screens and recordings with seven channels. It’s an encompassing and blissfully modern presentation of one potential future.

Mary Corse: A Survey in Light

Subtle in its engagement, Mary Corse: A Survey in Light, is a look at an artist from a very specific movement in California, know as Light and Space. Indeed, Corse’s handling of this is remarkable in its ready-made appearance but delicate and sophisticated execution. The show is a solid examination, including her early shaped canvases, freestanding sculptures, and light encasements that she engineered in the mid-1960s, in her early twenties, as well as her breakthrough White Light paintings, begun in 1968, and the Black Earth series that she initiated after moving in 1970 from downtown Los Angeles to Topanga Canyon, where she lives and works today.

This show is exploratory and refreshing- casting light on a critical element of today’s art world- levity and new forms of art that engage with inner-peace and shifting realities, pure white hues and the implementation of industrial tools in the interest of creating beauty.

 

Visit: https://whitney.org

99 Gansevoort Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 570-3600

Tickets starting at $0.00