Flatlands
Jan 14–Apr 17, 2016
Orion Martin (b. 1988), Bakers Steak, 2015. Oil on canvas, 51 1/2 in. x 35 1/2 in. (130.8 x 90.17 cm). Courtesy of the artist
This exhibition brings together paintings by five artists—Nina Chanel Abney, Mathew Cerletty, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Caitlin Keogh, and Orion Martin. Highlighting an engagement with representation among some emerging artists, the works in this group conjure a sense of space that is dimensionless and airless, like the illusionistic scenery flats used on stage and movie sets. Each of these artists fills their compositions with objects, bodies and places that are based on reality, yet are exaggerated, recontextualized, simplified or flattened. The individual works are imbued with both the uncertainty of our sociopolitical moment as well as the seductive quality of consumerism and physical attraction. The paintings in Flatlands invite the viewer to reflect on this ever-present polarity and ambivalence of contemporary life.
Flatlands is organized by assistant curators Laura Phipps and Elisabeth Sherman.
The exhibition will be on view through April 17, 2016 in the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Gallery, on the Museum's first floor, which is accessible to the public free-of-charge.
Major support is provided by John R. Eckel Jr. Foundation.
Generous support is provided by Liz and Jonathan Goldman.
Artworks
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Orion Martin (b. 1988), Sir Michaels, All Wash, 2015. Oil on canvas, 51 ½ in. × 35 ½ in. (130.8 × 90.17 cm). Courtesy the artist. Photograph by Logan White.
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Orion Martin (b. 1988), Bakers Steak, 2015. Oil on canvas, 51 1/2 in. × 35 1/2 in. (130.8 × 90.17 cm). Courtesy of the artist
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Caitlin Keogh (b. 1982), Intestine and Tassels, 2015. Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 63 in. (213.4 × 160 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
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Mathew Cerletty (b. 1980), Shelf Life, 2015. Oil on canvas, 50 × 60 in. (127 × 152.4 cm). Courtesy the artist and Office Baroque, Brussels. Photograph by EPW Studio, New York.
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Mathew Cerletty (b. 1980), Night Puddle, 2013. Oil on linen, 50 × 102 in. (127 × 259 cm). Courtesy the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles.
Artists
Events
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Sketching Tour:
Painting Then and NowSaturday, February 6, 2016
10–11 am -
Why Contemporary Art Matters: Politics and Aesthetics Today
Thursday, February 18, 2016
1–2:30 pm -
Family Fun: Painting Today!
Saturday, February 20, 2016
2:30 pm -
Weekend Member Early Admission
Saturday, February 27, 2016
9:30–10:30 am
Essay
On Unstable Ground
By Elisabeth Sherman and Laura Phipps
"The artists in Flatlands manipulate their subjects in order to impart their own brands of bizarre unreality."
Installation photography
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
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Installation view of Flatlands (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 14—April 18, 2016). Photography by Ronald Amstutz.
Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection
View 4 works
In the News
"The works here . . . resemble a kind of Surrealism strained through Pop Art, a mix of sharp contours and taut surfaces channeling content that’s less about a metaphysical truth rooted in the subconscious than it is about consciousness as artifice."
—TimeOut NY
"'Flatlands,' Where the Familiar Becomes Hypnotically Strange"
—The New York Times
"An unusually fast-thinking museum show"
—W Magazine