Art + You

Floor 7

Join us for a conversation about David L. Johnson’s Rule (2024-ongoing) and Kainoa Gruspe’s early fires—when god arrived—before had england before even had Jesus, heʻe and leho forever / cones, welcome to here—doorstop, →✺← (starfish of doom) (2025) in the Whitney Biennial 2026. These pieces use reclaimed material objects from sites in New York City and Hawai‘i to expose dynamics of power embedded in our built space. Together, we will use art as a window into contemporary politics and culture, engaging deeply with the questions of infrastructure, conduct, and the aesthetics of private property.

Art + You welcomes younger adults to share thoughts on artworks on view through close looking and dialogue. These gatherings are a unique way to experience art at the Whitney and make new connections. 

Facilitator:
Katherine “Kat” Cheairs, MFA, is a Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney and an interdisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and researcher. Cheairs holds a BA in Political Science from Tufts University and an MFA in Film from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in art and art education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where their research focuses on arts-based research, Black feminist theory, Black studies, queer theory, and affect studies. They are also a frequent collaborator on archival and video-based projects at the intersection of AIDS, art, and activism and currently serve on the board of Visual AIDS.