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
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Alice Aycock
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Bruce Baillie
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John Baldessari
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Jennifer Bartlett
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William Beckley
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Billy Al Bengston
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James Benning
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Mel Bochner
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Jonathan Borofsky
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Stan Brakhage
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Robert Breer
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Jane Brettschneider
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Roger Brown
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Barbara Buckner
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Deborah Butterfield
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Chuck Close
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Bruce Conner
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Manuel De Landa
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Donna Dennis
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Dennis Evans
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Jackie Ferrara
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Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn
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Richard Foreman
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Hollis Frampton
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Mary Frank
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Howard Fried
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Gregory Gillespie
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Brenda Goodman
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Larry Gottheim
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Robert Graham
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Philip Guston
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Walter Gutman
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Martha Haslanger
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David Haxton
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Patrick Hogan
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Nancy Holt
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Ralph Humphrey
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Bryan Hunt
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Joan Jonas
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Alex Katz
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Craig Kauffman
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Ellsworth Kelly
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Joyce Kozloff
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Lois Lane
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Sol LeWitt
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Roy Lichtenstein
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Kim MacConnel
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Christa Maiwald
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Robert Mangold
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Brice Marden
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Jonas Mekas
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Robert Moskowitz
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Elizabeth Murray
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Judith Murray
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Rita Myers
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Robert Nelson
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Philip Pearlstein
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Jody Pinto
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Kenneth Price
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Martin Puryear
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Christina Ramberg
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Anthony Ramos
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Edda Renouf
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Rodney Ripps
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Dorothea Rockburne
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Martha Rosler
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Susan Rothenberg
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Lucas Samaras
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Barbara Schwartz
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Richard Serra
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Joel Shapiro
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Paul Sharits
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Stuart Sherman
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Michael Singer
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Alexis Smith
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Warren Sonbert
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Alan Sondheim
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Frank Stella
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Donald Sultan
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James Surls
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George Trakas
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Bill Viola
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H.C. Westermann
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Christopher Wilmarth
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Jackie Winsor
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Joe Zucker
Installation Photography
![Works of art hanging in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827065/large_1991_Biennial_VW2_002_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art hanging in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827065/large_1991_Biennial_VW2_002_adjusted.jpg)
![Works on art displayed in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827066/large_1991_Biennial_VW3_003_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works on art displayed in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827066/large_1991_Biennial_VW3_003_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art hanging in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827067/large_1991_Biennial_VW4_004_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art hanging in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827067/large_1991_Biennial_VW4_004_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827070/large_1991_Biennial_VW7_007_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827070/large_1991_Biennial_VW7_007_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827071/large_1991_Biennial_VW8_008_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827071/large_1991_Biennial_VW8_008_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827074/large_1991_Biennial_VW11_0011_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827074/large_1991_Biennial_VW11_0011_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827078/large_1991_Biennial_VW15_0015_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827078/large_1991_Biennial_VW15_0015_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827085/large_1991_Biennial_VW27_0027_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827085/large_1991_Biennial_VW27_0027_adjusted.jpg)
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827092/large_1991_Biennial_VW35_0035_adjusted.jpg)
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
![Works of art in a gallery.](https://whitneymedia.org/assets/image/827092/large_1991_Biennial_VW35_0035_adjusted.jpg)
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.