Whitney Biennial 1979
Feb 6–Apr 1, 1979
The Whitney Biennial 1979 was curated by John G. Hanhardt, Barbara Haskell, Richard Marshall, Mark Segal, and Patterson Sims.
View the full exhibition catalogue at the Internet Archive.
Artists
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Robert Arneson
5 works in the collection
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Alice Aycock
3 works in the collection
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John Baldessari
40 works in the collection
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Jennifer Bartlett
18 works in the collection
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Billy Al Bengston
3 works in the collection
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James Benning
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Mel Bochner
15 works in the collection
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Jonathan Borofsky
12 works in the collection
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Stan Brakhage
3 works in the collection
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Robert Breer
2 works in the collection
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Roger Brown
3 works in the collection
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Barbara Buckner
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Deborah Butterfield
1 work in the collection
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Chuck Close
43 works in the collection
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Bruce Conner
33 works in the collection
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Jackie Ferrara
1 work in the collection
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Hollis Frampton
15 works in the collection
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Mary Frank
5 works in the collection
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Howard Fried
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Gregory Gillespie
3 works in the collection
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Larry Gottheim
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Robert Graham
3 works in the collection
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Philip Guston
10 works in the collection
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Walter Gutman
1 work in the collection
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Martha Haslanger
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David Haxton
17 works in the collection
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Nancy Holt
2 works in the collection
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Ralph Humphrey
4 works in the collection
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Bryan Hunt
9 works in the collection
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Joan Jonas
11 works in the collection
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Alex Katz
80 works in the collection
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Craig Kauffman
2 works in the collection
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Ellsworth Kelly
44 works in the collection
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Joyce Kozloff
3 works in the collection
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Lois Lane
1 work in the collection
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Sol LeWitt
111 works in the collection
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Roy Lichtenstein
445 works in the collection
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Kim MacConnel
2 works in the collection
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Robert Mangold
14 works in the collection
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Brice Marden
91 works in the collection
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Jonas Mekas
3 works in the collection
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Robert Moskowitz
9 works in the collection
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Elizabeth Murray
49 works in the collection
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Judith Murray
1 work in the collection
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Philip Pearlstein
19 works in the collection
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Jody Pinto
1 work in the collection
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Kenneth Price
6 works in the collection
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Martin Puryear
8 works in the collection
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Christina Ramberg
3 works in the collection
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Edda Renouf
2 works in the collection
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Martha Rosler
4 works in the collection
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Susan Rothenberg
16 works in the collection
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Lucas Samaras
128 works in the collection
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Richard Serra
24 works in the collection
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Joel Shapiro
43 works in the collection
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Paul Sharits
6 works in the collection
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Stuart Sherman
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Alexis Smith
5 works in the collection
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Warren Sonbert
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Frank Stella
84 works in the collection
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Donald Sultan
12 works in the collection
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James Surls
2 works in the collection
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H.C. Westermann
11 works in the collection
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Christopher Wilmarth
14 works in the collection
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Jackie Winsor
2 works in the collection
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Joe Zucker
10 works in the collection
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Bruce Baillie
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William Beckley
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Jane Brettschneider
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Manuel De Landa
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Donna Dennis
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Dennis Evans
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Richard Foreman
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Brenda Goodman
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Patrick Hogan
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Christa Maiwald
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Rita Myers
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Robert Nelson
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Anthony Ramos
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Rodney Ripps
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Barbara Schwartz
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Michael Singer
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Alan Sondheim
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George Trakas
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Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn
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Dorothea Rockburne
8 works in the collection
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Bill Viola
1 work in the collection
Installation Photography

Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Susan Rothenberg, Redhead (1978); Susan Rothenberg, Blue Frontal (1978); Jo Zucker, The Ghostly Spectre of the Slaver Trinidad rises among the wrecks and reefs off Madagascar on a moonlit night during July of 1834. Notice Saint Elmo’s fire on the spars and mastheads… (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Robert Graham, Lise I (1977); Robert Graham, Painted Fragments (1978); Chuck Close, Mark/Pastel (1977); Chuck Close, Nate/Pastel (1977–78); Chuck Close, Self-Portrait (1977); Roy Lichtenstein, Figures with Sunset (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Billy Al Bengston, Chocladkranasar Draculas (1977); Billy Al Bengston, Notklickar Draculas (1978); Roger Brown, The Assassination of Aldo Moro and The Terror of the Red Brigade (1978); Roger Brown, Busy City Porno Strip (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Mary Frank, Woman (1978); Mary Frank, Standing Woman (1978); Gregory Gillespie, Self Portrait (1978); Gregory Gillespie, Self-Portrait in Studio (1976–77). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Jackie Ferrera, A190 Trid (1978), sugar pine; Jackie Ferrera, A190 Trid (1978), drawing; Jackie Ferrera, A196 Tower Beck (1979), drawing; Jackie Ferrera, A196 Tower Beck, sugar pine; Ellsworth Kelly, White Triangle with Black (1936); Ellsworth Kelly, Untitled (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Jennifer Bartlett, Swimmer at Dawn, Noon and Dusk (1978); Elizabeth Murray, Children’s Meeting (1978); Frank Stella, New Caledonian Lorikeet (1977); Frank Stella, Bula-Chasm (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Edda Renouf, Visible Sounds #1 (1978); Edda Renouf, New York Sound Drawing; Jackie Winsor, Glass Piece; Mel Bochner, Aliquant Reciprocol (1979). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Mel Bochner, Aliquant Reciprocal (1979); Dorothea Rockburne, Arena IV (1978); Dorothea Rockburne, Arena V (1978); Dorothea Rockburne, Arena VII (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind


Installation view of the 1979 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6–April 8, 1979). From left to right: Dennis Evans, Non-Casual procedures for a Universal System of Transformation (1978); Dennis Evans, Untitled (1978); Dennis Evans, Theoretical Diagram for a Structural Approach to a Semaphoric Field Neutralization (1978); Dennis Evans, Box for Instruments (1978). Photograph by Roy Elkind

In the News
“The Whitney Biennials have a perfect history of critical disapprobation. This 1979 version forestalls complaints as regards omissions at the outset since no unifying premises are declared.” —The Burlington Magazine
“. . . a potpourri of current work in a dizzying variety of styles and media.” —The New York Times
More from this series
Learn more about the Whitney Biennial, the longest-running survey of American art.