Test Pattern

Aug 22–Dec 1, 2013

An abstract image by Nick Mauss. Strong black vertical stripes, with thin stripes forming a grid
An abstract image by Nick Mauss. Strong black vertical stripes, with thin stripes forming a grid

Nick Mauss, b. 1980, only that, 2012. Glaze on ceramic, 11 1/4 x 14 7/8in. (28.6 x 37.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee  2013.5. Digital Image, © Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York

A selection of recent acquisitions from the Museum’s permanent collection, Test Pattern brings together works, made mostly in the last three years, that demonstrate artists’ shared interests in investigating the entangled roles of materiality, reproduction and process. Perhaps in response to the increasingly seamless exchanges of visual information in the digital age, the artists featured in this exhibition seem intent on complicating and obscuring content, encouraging slower and more nuanced ways of looking. The phrase “test pattern,” a graphic tool that enables the synchronization of signals for optimum color and clarity, suggests a metaphor for the way these artists question the legibility of images at a moment where technology has amplified the impact of images and accelerated their transmission. Including works by Michele Abeles, Tauba Auerbach, Mathew Cerletty, Leslie Hewitt, Meredyth Sparks, Kaari Upson and others, the exhibition demonstrates the Museum’s continued commitment to collecting work by younger and emerging artists.

Test Pattern is organized by Laura Phipps, Senior Curatorial Assistant and Nicholas Robbins, Curatorial Assistant.

Major support for this exhibition is provided by the John R. Eckel Jr. Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Artists Council of the Whitney Museum of American Art.




Events

View all


Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection

View 13 works

In the News

"The pieces [in Test Pattern] explore how information can be layered, obscured and complicated to create beauty."
Wired

"The Whitney Museum's Test Pattern Exhibition Challenges The Production Of Digital Images"
Architectural Digest

The rising young artists of Test Pattern . . . implore you to look up—you might be surprised at the strange patterns all around you.
W Magazine


On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.