New York's Whitney Museum, which opens its biennial exhibition next year for the first time in its new downtown building after a three-year hiatus, has released the list of artists that will be included. Among the 63 participants selected by the curators Christopher Lew (who is based at the Whitney) and Mia Locks (who works independently) are established artists like the Americans Jo Baer and Larry Bell, international collectives like the Gulf-based GCC and young New York artists like Torey Thornton, Casey Gollan and Victoria Sobel. Other artists include Pope.L, Dana Schutz, Jordan Wolfson and Anicka Yi.
Like the most recent Venice Biennale in 2015 and Documenta 13 in 2012, the show focuses on how artists navigate a turbulent world. “Throughout our research and travel, we’ve been moved by the impassioned discussions we had about recent tumult in society, politics, and the economic system,” Lew said in a statement. Locks added: “Against this backdrop, many of the participating artists are asking probing questions about the self and the social, and where these intersect. How do we think and live through these lenses? How and where do they fall short?”
Lew and Locks are working closely with Scott Rothkopf, who is leading a team of outside consultants including the writer Negar Azimi, the Miami Institute of Contemporary Art curator Gean Moreno, the film curator Aily Nash and the publisher Wendy Yao.
“Since we opened our new building, we’ve reignited our emerging artist program with venturesome solo premieres and ‘snapshot’ shows of new tendencies,” Rothkopf said in a statement. “This Biennial, the largest ever in terms of gallery space, marks the capstone of these efforts.”