Whitney Biennial 1985

Mar 13–June 9, 1985

The Whitney Biennial 1985 was curated by Richard Armstrong, John G. Hanhardt, Barbara Haskell, Richard Marshall, Lisa Phillips, and Patterson Sims.

View the full exhibition catalogue at the Internet Archive.

Artists

Installation Photography

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Robert Kushner, Tryst (1983); David Salle, The Disappearance of the Booming Voice (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: David Salle, B.A.M.F.V. (1983); Jedd Garet, Two (1984); Kenny Scharf, When Worlds Collide (1984); center: Tom Otterness, The Old World (1985); Jedd Garet, To Rule the World (1985); David Wojnarowicz, Science Lesson (1982–83). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). Group Material, Americana (1985). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). Group Material, Americana (1985). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Bryan Hunt, Stillscape II (1984); Bryan Hunt, Stillscape I (1984); Robert Mangold, Four Color Frame Painting #9 (1984); Robert Mangold, Four Color Frame Painting #8 (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: John Duff, Irregular Column (1984); Donald Judd, Untitled (1984); Donald Judd, Untitled (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Eric Fischl, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man (1984); Eric Fischl, Power of Rock & Roll (1984); Joel Witkin, Harvest, Philadelphia (1984); Joel Witkin, Portrait of Nan, New Mexico (1984); Joel Witkin, Boy with Four Arms (1984); Joel Witkin, The Result of War: Cornucopian Dog, New Mexico (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Laurie Simmons, Coral Living Room (1983–84); Laurie Simmons, Tourism: Barcelona-Gaudi (1984); Laurie Simmons, Tourism: Eiffel Tower (1984); Sherrie Levine, After El Lissitsky (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Charles Garabedian, Ulysses (1984); Charles Garabedian, Five Figures in a Landscape (1983); Susan Rothenberg, Green Ray (1984); Susan Rothenberg, Mondrian Dancing (1984–85). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: David Wojnarowicz, Attack of the Alien Minds (1984–85); David Wojnarowicz, Science Less (1982–83). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Cindy Sherman, Untitled (1984); Jack Goldstein, Untitled (1984); Jack Goldstein, Untitled #87 (1983–84). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Jed Garett, To Rule the World (1985); Jenny Holzer, Unex Sign #1: Selections from Survival Series (1983); Tom Otterness, The Old World (1984); Robert Kushner, Two Roberts and Violet (1983). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: John Baldessari, Various Shadows (1984); John Baldessari, Black and White Decisions (1984); Joel Witkin, Boy with Four Arms (1984); Joel Witkin, The Result of War: Cornucopian Dog, New Mexico (1984); Sarah Charlesworth, Red Mask (1983); Sarah Charlesworth, Figures (1984); Bruce Nauman, Human Nature/Life Death/Knows/ Doesn’t Know (1983). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Jack Goldstein, Untitled #87 (1983); Barbara Kruger, Untitled (1985); Barbara Kruger, Untitled (1985); Barbara Kruger, Untitled (1985); Barbara Kruger, Untitled (1985); Barbara Kruger, Untitled (1985); Jedd Garet, Two (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Robert Yarber, Big Fall (1984); Robert Yarber, Corridor (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Ed Pasche, Donadio (1984); Ed Pasche, Marquesa (1984); Cindy Sherman, Untitled (1984); Cindy Sherman, Untitled (1984); Jack Goldstein, Untitled (1984); Dara Birnbaum, Damnation of Faust (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). John Kessler, Visions of China (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Mike Kelley, Infinite Expansion (1983); Mike Kelley, Abe’s Log Cabin and His Most Alluring Feature (1984); Doug Anderson, I Conquered Weakness by Giving In to It (1984); Doug Anderson, Be Brave (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Robert Therrien, No titled (1984); Robert Therrien, No Title (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Rodney Greenblat, Ark of Triumph (1984–85); Robert Yarber, Big Fall (1984); Robert Yarber, Corridor (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: JoAnn Carson, The Amazed Man (1983); JoAnn Carson, Tom Foolery (1983); Robert Hudson, Outrigger (1983–84). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: John Newman, Nomen est Numen: Naming is Knowing (1984); John Newman, Slow Commotion (1984); Carroll Dunham, Inset (1984); Carroll Dunham, Fourth Pine (1982–83). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Terry Winters, Lumen (1984); Terry Winters, Good Government (1984); center: Mel Kendricks, Poplar with Grooves and Holes (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Gregory Amenoff, Tramontane (1984); Mel Kendrick, Poplar with Grooves and Holes (1984); Gregory Amenoff, Beginnings (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). From left to right: Jed Garet, Two (1984); Kenny Scharf, When World’s Collide (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). TODT, Whitney Museum Installation (1985). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). Kenny Scharf, Closet #7. Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

Installation view of the 1985 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 13–June 9, 1985). Ned Smyth, Tree of Life (1984). Photograph by Geoffrey Clements

In the News

“. . . the show has been very well installed. The good things (and some of them are very good indeed) take their place in a major museum by right. No imaginable visitor could like everything that is on view, but then this is not that kind of show. It is a representative show, not a quality show, though attempts have been made to get the best available examples of whatever has been chosen.” —The New York Times

“For most of the artists in this exhibition, especially the painters, there seems to have been a need to handle their chosen medium with a high degree of irony, as though they could not quite believe in it.” —The Burlington Magazine

“The Biennial’s commitment to the new is reflected in its increasing attention to the experimental art forms of independent film and video.” —The New York Times

“Wowingly Manhattanesque—fashionable, fast and sometimes naughty-naughty—it is just the right exhibit for the out-of-town customer. Its flashy art may not survive two years out there in the market. See it while you can.” —The Washington Post

“The exhibition brings together paintings and drawings by seven, very different artists who are not out to paint what they see but rather to accommodate the American tradition of landscape painting to the demands of the present.” —The New York Times

“Some of the most innovative works of art in the current Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition aren’t to be found under the spotlights of Frank Lloyd Wright’s bright and spacious galleries, but in the dark of the second-floor film and video theater.” —The New York Times

More from this series

Learn more about the Whitney Biennial, the longest-running survey of American art.