Whitney Biennial 2026

For Film (Whitney Museum of American Art), Margaret Honda installed pre-set selections of sixteen color-balancing and six neutral-density cinematography lighting gels in the Museum’s west-facing stairwell windows. The gels, which are used to control lighting conditions on a film set, are arranged here according to the manufacturer’s numerical order, creating a sequence from top to bottom along the Museum’s architecture. Over the course of each day and throughout the exhibition’s duration, the colors and their effects change with the light and weather. After sunset they dim when viewed from inside the stairwell and at the same time, become visible from outside the building.