Whitney Biennial 2004

Mar 11–May 30, 2004

The Whitney Biennial 2004 was curated by Chrissie Iles, Shamim M. Momin, and Debra Singer.

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Installation Photography

Bright lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling along with prints of black squares displayed next to wall text for the 2004 Biennial Exhibition.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Spencer Finch, Darkness, 2004; Spencer Finch, Night Sky, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Gallery walls covered in various drawings and text.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Dave Muller, …That Hollywood Adage: Be Nice to the People on the Way Up, Because they are the same people on the on the Way Down, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery filled with various works of art.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Tam Van Tran Beetle, Manifesto IV, 2002; Cameron Martin, Pure Phase Two, 2002; Cameron Martin, Untitled (100), 2001; Cameron Martin, Above the Salt, 2004. Floor: Erick Swenson, Untitled, 2001. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to Right: Julie Mehretu, Rise of the New Suprematists, 2001; Tam Van Tran, Beetle Manifesto IV, 2002; Tam Van Tran, Beetle Manifesto XI, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery filled with photographs and a large sculpture of a glass dumpster filled with various objects.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to Right: Alec Soth; Rob Fischer, Thirty Yards, 2003–4; Katy Grannan Kamika, near Route 9, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery filled with prints and a sculpture of a man standing and another sculpture of a man sitting.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Olav Westphalen, Statue(seated), 2003; Olav Westphalen, Statue (standing), 2003; Amy Cutler, Castoroide Colony, 2003; Amy Cutler, Tiger Mending, 2003; Amy Cutler, Saddleback, 2002; Amy Cutler, Camp Site, 2002. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Three abstract paintings displayed in a gallery along with a green sculpture.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Glenn Kaino, Desktop Operation: There’s No Place Like Home (10th Example of Rapid Dominance: Em City), 2003; Fred Tomaselli, Breathing Head, 2002; Fred Tomaselli, Airborne Event, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

An orange painting covered in text, along with a black paintings covered in text.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Glen Kaino, Desktop Operation: There’s No Place Like Home (10th Example of Rapid Dominance: Em City), 2003; Mel Bochner, Meaningless, 2003; Mel Bochner, Nothing, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery filled with prints and a sculpture made out of a metal tube.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Robert Longo, Untitled (Hell’s Gate), 2001; Emily Jacir, Munir, 2001–3; Taylor Davis, Untitled (pink rosa), 2003; Wade Guyton, Untitled, 2003; Wade Guyton, Untitled (Gabo 28), 2002; Wade Guyton, Untitled, 2003; Wade Guyton, Untitled Action Sculpture (Breuer), 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 11–May 30, 2004). Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

An abstract painting filled with red splatters, along with an abstract painting of a headless figure.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Barnaby Furnas, Martyr, 2003; Barnaby Furnas, Suicide 1, 2002. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery wall filled with tiny drawings that create a grid, along with a large painting displayed on another wall.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Amy Sillman, Hamlet, 2002; Zak Smith, Pictures of What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Gravity Rainbow, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A wall in a gallery filled with art work by David Hockney.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right; David Hockney, Richard Schmidt, 2003; David Hockney, David Graves, 2003; David Hockney, Ann graves, 2003; David Hockney, Gregory Evans, 2003; (Bottom) David Hockney, Cactus Garden ISV, L.A. Studio, 2003; David Hockney, Interior with Lamp, 2003; David Hockney, Saturday Rain II, 2003; David Hockney, View from Terrace III, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery filled with drawings and paintings.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: David Hockney, Gregory Evans, 2003; David Hockney, View from the Terrace III, 2003; Elizabeth Peyton, Walt, 2003; Elizabeth Peyton, Julian, 2003; Elizabeth Peyton, Maritime(E.P.), 2003; Elizabeth Peyton, Nick…, 2003; Elizabeth Peyton, September (Ben), 2001; Elizabeth Peyton, Live to Ride (E.P.), 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Four portrait photographs displayed in a gallery.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Jack Pierson, Self Portrait #4, 2003; Jack Pierson, Self Portrait #6, 2003; Jack Pierson, Self Portrait #1, 2003; Jack Pierson, Self Portrait #3, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery with dark walls displaying a projection of a blue sky with pixelated clouds.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Cory Arcangel/Beige, 1`, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Various sculptures displayed on the floor of a gallery.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Matthew Ronay, Decoration Declaration, 2003; Matthew Ronay, The Impressions/Curtis Mayfield, 2003; Matthew Ronay, Infected Carrots, 2003; Matthew Ronay, Irreversible Algorithm, 2003; Matthew Ronay, Mandrill, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A wall in a gallery covered in a colorful wall drawing.

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Santiago Cucullu, Untitled, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A long table covered in a black tablecloth, displayed with wine glasses along with black stools.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Tom Burr, Blackout Bar, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A mixed media installation made up of black platforms, flowers, skeletons, and other objects.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). David Altmejd, Delicate Men in Position of Power, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Walls covered in handwritten notes and drawings.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Raymond Pettibone, Title on the Line, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A mixed media installation of a room with walls covered in reflective material and a chandelier.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Virgil Marti, Grow Room 3, 2004. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery with blue sculptures on the walls and on the floor.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial( 2004 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Richard Prince, Preston Hollow, 2003; Richard Prince, Canal Zone, 2003; Richard Prince, Haight Ashbury, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

A gallery with walls covered in a projection of a sky with clouds.

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Craigie Horsfield, El Hierro Conversation, 2002. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

Installation view of the Whitney Biennial 2004 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11, 2004–May 30, 2004). Left to right: Katie Grinnan, Dreamcatcher, 2003; Katie Grinnan, Midnight at Noon, 2003; Katie Grinnan, Hubcap Woman, 2003; Sam Durant, Legality Is Not Morality, 2003. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

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In the News

“When the 2004 Biennial opens this spring, the often controversial survey of contemporary art will extend well beyond the walls of the Whitney Museum of American Art. There will be art from one end of Central Park to the other . . .” —The New York Times

“This survey [. . .] remains upbeat and ingratiating, almost polite, on the surface at least, with a utopian streak and a youth-heavy emphasis on gloss and craft. Politics, while hardly ignored [. . .], exchange claims of affliction for a greater emphasis on formal allure.” —The New York Times

“In general, the show acknowledges the New York establishment taste that the last biennial, to its cost, ignored.” —The New York Times

“There is plenty of dross at the 2004 Whitney Biennial, but it’s the same dross that any thorough survey of the art world would reveal. Current trends correctly noted by the curators, and represented in this show, include sleepy abstraction, retro psychedelia and neoconservative figure painting.” —The Washington Post

“Extensive surveys of contemporary art are seldom as polished as was this year’s Biennial exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art [. . .], ensuring that its curators [. . .] generated lively debate around a show that was coherent and fluid.” —The Burlington Magazine

“. . . allowing for its essentially capricious nature, the 2004 Biennial seemed to be one of the better ones. The usual ‘ageism’ prevailed [. . .] but there was much less aggressive political art or designed-to-disgust sociological commentary than in other recent Biennials. The videos seemed less intrusive and less raucous, and the installation was generally clearer and less jam-packed with disparate works. This Biennial was polite.” —The Hudson Review

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