Curating the Whitney Biennial is a fool’s errand by design.
A snapshot of contemporary American art — a wide tent that grows every year — is nearly impossible: there is no monoculture (the internet killed that); no uniting political movement (even the most innocuous of statements can cause ire across the ideological spectrum); and no emergence of anything resembling an aesthetic “style” or monoculture (blame that on the Internet, too). The show will always be deemed too inclusive, too exclusive, not political enough, or too political. And yet, the Whitney Biennial’s mission of surveying the American artistic moment endures — and this time, yields surprisingly fantastic results.
Biennial curators Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli have titled this edition “Even Better Than the Real Thing.” The name and initial curatorial statement elicited groans with its artificial intelligence and alternative history artspeak. Yet, their curatorial mission is more complex upon review. Instead of relying on a single narrative of the moment, the seventy-four artists included in “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and its accompanying programming are allowed the space to showcase their own versions of the truth, creating a nuanced portrait of this country’s sociopolitical identity in which no one viewpoint is prioritized. By leaning into America’s chaos, Iles and Onli have organized an exemplary show, precisely by turning the weaknesses in the Whitney Biennial’s modus operandi into some of its greatest strengths...
Madeleine Seidel
