Whitney Biennial 2000

Mar 23–June 4, 2000

The Whitney Biennial 2000 was curated by Michael Auping, Valerie Cassel, Hugh M. Davies, Jane Farver, Andrea Miller-Keller, and Lawrence R. Rinder.

Installation photography

Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Kay Rosen, Star Spangled (2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Louise Lawler, Pink and Yellow and Black I (Red Disaster), from the series On a Wall, On a Cow, In a Book, In the Mail (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: works by Linda Besemer, Katherine Sherwood, Joseph Havel, and Richard Tuttle. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Linda Besemer; Joseph Havel, Curtains (1999); Ghada Amer, Untitled (John Rose) (1999); Ghada Amer, Untitled (Orange) (1998); Rina Banerjee, Infectious Migrations (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Richard Tuttle, “Rough Edges, 1” (1999); Richard Tuttle, “Rough Edges, 2” (1999); Richard Tuttle, “Rough Edges, 3” (1999); Richard Tuttle, “Rough Edges, 4” (1999); Richard Tuttle, “Rough Edges, 5” (1999); Joseph Havel, Table Cloth (1999); Joseph Havel, Curtains (1999); Ingrid Calame, b-b-b,rr-gR-UF!, b-b-b (1999); Ghada Amer, Untitled (John Rose) (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Vernon Fisher, Taza from Tarzan series (1999); Joseph Havel, Drape (1999); Katherine Sherwood, Facility of Speech (1999); Katherine Sherwood, Seeds of Thought (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Sarah Sze, Strange Attractor (2000). Photograph by George Hirose
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Sarah Sze, Strange Atractor (2000); Linda Besemer, Zip Fold #1 (1999); Joseph Marioni, Red Painting (1999); Joseph Marioni, White Painting (1999); Joseph Marioni, Blue Painting (1997); Linda Besemer. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Chakaia Booker, It’s So Hard to be Green (2000); John Currin, Homemade Pasta (1999); John Currin, Old Fence (1999); John Currin, Stamford After Brunch. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: works by Yukinori Yanagi, Thornton Dial, Michael Joo, and Dawoud Bey. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Josiah McElheny, An Historical Anecdote About Fashion (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Josiah McElheny, An Historical Anecdote About Fashion (1999); Michael Joo, Visible (1999); Victor Muniz, Raft of the Medusa (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Robert Gober, Untitled (1999); John Coplans, Self Portrait (1999); Petah Coyne, Untitled #978 (1999–2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Louise Lawler, Pink and Yellow and Black I (Red Disaster), from the series On a Wall, On a Cow, In a Book, In the Mail (1999); Krysztof Wodiczko, Agis: Equipment for a City of Strangers (1999); Al Souza, The Peaceful Kingdom (1998). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Salomon Huerta; center: Kim Dingle, 63MG 4ME (1999); Chris Verene, selections from Camera Club series (1999–2000); Lisa Yuskavage, True Blonde at Home (1999); Lisa Yuskavage, Day (2000); Lisa Yuskavage, Night (2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). E.V. Day, Bombshell from the series Exploding Couture (1999). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Vernon Fisher, Tunis from the Zombie series (1999); Laurie Reid, Ruby Dew (Pink Melon Joy) (1998). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Cai Guo-Quiang, How Is Your Feng Shui?: Year 2000 Project for Manhattan (1999–2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Yukinoro Yanagi, Study for American Art—192 One Dollar Bills (2000); Michael Joo, Visible (1999); John Currin, Stamford After Brunch. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Annette Lemieux, Foot Play (1997). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Ben Benjamin, Superbad website (1995–2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Hans Haacke, Sanitation (2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). From left to right: Thorton Dial, Stone Walls (Diana’s Land) (1997–98); Thorton Dial, Bad Picture (Diana’s Last Ride) (1997–98). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Infinito Botanica NYC 2000 (2000). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Marcos Ramirez Erre, Stripes and Fence Forever (Homage to Jasper Johns) (1997). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson
Installation view of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 23–June 4, 2000). Franco Mondini-Ruiz, site-specific installation outside the Whitney Museum as part of Infinito Botanica (2000). Photograph by Anne Wehr

In the News

“. . . a show without a theme, no strong point of view, not much sex, no dead pigs, no fecal matter or rotting eggs or mannequins with a penis for a nose. Sounds boring, no? Well, it is. The show goes out of its way to be ecumenical, independent, geographically diverse, representative of all media, including the Internet, and different from what the New York power brokers would do.” —The New York Times

“The last thing you expect from a gathering of this kind—a summa of contemporary art over the past two years—is flirtatiousness. Yet that’s what you get. [. . .] this Biennial is coy and brazen at once. [. . .] it is self-regarding, self-revealing, and self-desiring without ever seeming narcissistic or self-centered.” —The New York Times

“Art of the 20th century dissolved boundaries, bringing a world of cross-disciplinary, multimedia, theatrical, electronic, cybernetic and other breakaway modes of expression. This world is instructively represented right now by the Whitney Biennial.” —The New York Times

“For the first time, the film and video component of the Whitney Biennial has been placed under the stewardship of the same committee that selects the main body of the exhibition rather than being left to specialists in the field. A result is a more open, more varied yet in some ways more obvious selection of entries than before.” —The New York Times

“The Whitney Museum of American Art’s Biennial is an exhibition of new and often cutting-edge American art. This year, one work may be a little too cutting.” —The New York Times

“Timeless is exactly what this show is not. It’s got lots of installations [. . .]. It’s got lots and lots of Web art [. . .]. With its too-big glossy photographs, its anti-Giuliani screed, and its many, many videos, the 2000 Biennial is as voguish as can be.” —The Washington Post

“The Whitney Biennial 2000 was chosen by six curators from different parts of the U.S., which probably explains why one of their main concerns was to shift emphasis away from New York-based artists. Another curatorial emphasis was to represent artists at different stages in their careers.” —Circa

“The 2000 Whitney Biennial was about the here-and-now. This often-contentious survey of recent work was a more tepid affair than many of the last two decades [. . .]. It was possible to look at the art without the usual sense of outrage, spending less time on the inevitable questions [. . .] and actually taking note of a few artists whose progress one would want to follow.” —The Hudson Review

“. . . computer art has finally come of age. The New York art community has embraced it by including it in this year’s Whitney Biennial.” —Leonardo

More from this series

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