Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night

Through July 6

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On view
Floors -1, 1, 3, 8

Open: Feb 8–July 6, 2025

In works full of sharp wit and incisive commentary, Christine Sun Kim (b. 1980, Orange County, California) engages sound and the complexities of communication in its various modes. Using musical notation, infographics, and language—both in her native American Sign Language (ASL) and written English—she has produced drawings, videos, sculptures, and installations that often explore non-auditory, political dimensions of sound. In many works, Kim draws directly on the spatial dynamism of ASL, translating it into graphic form. By emphasizing images, the body, and physical space, she upends the societal assumption that spoken languages are superior to those that are signed. 

This exhibition surveys Kim’s entire artistic output to date and features works ranging from early 2010s performance documentation to her recent site-responsive mural, Ghost(ed) Notes (2024), re-created across multiple walls on the eighth floor. Inspired by similarly named works made throughout her career, the exhibition’s title, All Day All Night, points to the vitality Kim brings to her artmaking; she is relentlessly experimental, productive, and dedicated to sharing her Deaf lived experiences with others.

This exhibition is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. The organizing curators are Jennie Goldstein, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator of the Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art; Pavel Pyś, Curator of Visual Arts and Collections Strategy, Walker Art Center; and Tom Finkelpearl, independent curator; with Rose Pallone, Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Brandon Eng, Curatorial Assistant, Walker Art Center.

Major support for Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night is provided by the Ford Foundation, Teiger Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

       

Significant support is provided by the Korea Foundation.

In New York, the exhibition is sponsored by

Major support is provided by Judy Hart Angelo and the Whitney’s National Committee.

Significant support is provided by Marcia Dunn and Jonathan Sobel, the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, and Sueyun and Gene Locks.

Generous support is provided by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Further Forward Foundation, Peter H. Kahng, the Samsung Foundation of Culture, and Sonya Yu.

Additional support is provided by Jessica and Marwan Bitar, The Cowles Charitable Trust, The Freedman Family, Girlfriend Fund, Suzanne McFayden, Alice and Manu Sareen, Lisa Perry/Onna House, Gina H. Sohn and Gregory P. Lee, Jackson Tang, and an anonymous donor.

En Español

Todo el día, toda la noche

A través de obras llenas de agudeza, ingeniosidad y comentarios incisivos, Christine Sun Kim (n. 1980, Orange County, California) aborda el sonido y las complejidades de la comunicación en sus diversas formas. Utilizando la notación musical, la infografía y el lenguaje, tanto en su lengua natal de lenguaje de señas estadounidense (ASL) como en inglés escrito, la artista ha producido dibujos, videos, esculturas e instalaciones que con frecuencia exploran las dimensiones no auditivas, y políticias, del sonido. En muchas obras, Kim se basa directamente en el dinamismo espacial del ASL, para traducirlo a formas gráficas. En otras, utiliza ángulos geométricos o gráficas circulares para llevar un registro visual de las emociones e impresiones personales de la crianza de una familia, aprovechando este enfoque por su inmediatez comunicativa. Al enfatizar la imagen, el cuerpo y el espacio físico, ella cuestiona la presunción social de que los lenguajes hablados son superiores a los lenguajes de señas.

Esta exposición explora toda la producción artística de Kim hasta la fecha y presenta obras que van desde la documentación de sus performances de principios de 2010 hasta su reciente mural que responde al sitio, Notas Fantasma (2024), recreado sobre las paredes de este piso. Inspirada en obras de nombre similar realizadas a lo largo de su carrera, el título de la exposición, Todo el día, toda la noche, resalta la vitalidad con que Kim impregna a su práctica artística: es incansablemente experimental, productiva y dedicada a compartir sus experiencias vividas como persona sorda.

Black and white cover with "Whitney," "Christine Sun Kim," and "Look Think Create Activity Guide" in bold and handwritten fonts.
Christine Sun Kim Activity Guide

Activity Guide

An activity guide filled with projects that Kim made with the Whitney's Education Department. The projects respond to works in the exhibition that you can enjoy during your visit!

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Future Base, 2016

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In the twenty drawings that make up Future Base, Kim playfully explores the notion of the future, reframing it in ways that involve references to art, popular culture, and Deaf culture. The starting point for each work is the shape of the sign for “future” in American Sign Language, which traces two semicircles arching away from the face. Kim visualizes the hand’s trajectory in space as two curved lines, adapting it to multiple scenarios. After landing in a glass of wine, the line in Future Gets Sleepy becomes dotted. In Hockney Future, the line dives into a swimming pool, a riff on David Hockney’s 1967 painting A Bigger Splash. The lines in Future with White Privileges and Future with Sound Privileges both score a hole-in-one, critically reflecting upon inequitable access to the very idea of the future.

Christine Sun Kim, Future Base, 2016

Art gallery with musical staff lines and notes painted on walls, featuring framed abstract drawings arranged in a grid on a wooden floor.
Art gallery with musical staff lines and notes painted on walls, featuring framed abstract drawings arranged in a grid on a wooden floor.

Installation view of Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 8-July 6, 2025). Mural: Ghost(ed) Notes, 2024 (re-created 2025). On wall, clockwise from top left: Future Tells Bad Knock-Knock Jokes, 2016; Hockney Future, 2016; Future with White Privileges, 2016; Future with Certified Sign Language Interpreters, 2016; Good Grief Future, 2016; Future Does the Biles, 2016; Future Gets Sleepy, 2016; Futurist Future, 2016; Denim Future, 2016; Future Attempts to Hearsplain, 2016; Future Attempts to Deafsplain, 2016; No Future, 2016; Rhyme Pattern Future, 2016; Future Gets High on Caffeine, 2016; McFuture, 2016; Too Much Future, 2016; Future Gets Paranoid, 2016; Future with Sound Privileges, 2016; Kapoor Future, 2016; Future Schmuture, 2016. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

  • The words "Denim Future" with "Demi" crossed out above two simple pocket sketches on a white background.
    The words "Denim Future" with "Demi" crossed out above two simple pocket sketches on a white background.

    Christine Sun Kim, Denim Future, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A simple drawing shows a golf ball's trajectory into a hole with a flag, labeled "Future with White Privileges."
    A simple drawing shows a golf ball's trajectory into a hole with a flag, labeled "Future with White Privileges."

    Christine Sun Kim, Future with White Privileges, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A simple line drawing with the text "Future with Sound Privileges" above a curved line and a small flag on a pole.
    A simple line drawing with the text "Future with Sound Privileges" above a curved line and a small flag on a pole.

    Christine Sun Kim, Future with Sound Privileges, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • Text "Good Grief Future" above a black zigzag line on a white background.
    Text "Good Grief Future" above a black zigzag line on a white background.

    Christine Sun Kim, Good Grief Future, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • Black abstract shape on white background with the words "Too Much Future" written above.
    Black abstract shape on white background with the words "Too Much Future" written above.

    Christine Sun Kim, Too Much Future, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Drawing Committee 2018.183. © Christine Sun Kim

  • Black abstract line drawing with the words "No Future" above it on a white background.
    Black abstract line drawing with the words "No Future" above it on a white background.

    Christine Sun Kim, No Future, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A simple line drawing of a V shape with the text "FUTURE GETS PARANOID" above it on a plain background.
    A simple line drawing of a V shape with the text "FUTURE GETS PARANOID" above it on a plain background.

    Christine Sun Kim, Future Gets Paranoid, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • Two black arches resembling the McDonald's logo, with the word "McFuture" above them, drawn on a white background.
    Two black arches resembling the McDonald's logo, with the word "McFuture" above them, drawn on a white background.

    Christine Sun Kim, McFuture, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A simple line graph with a steep decline leveling off, labeled "Future Schmuture" at the top.
    A simple line graph with a steep decline leveling off, labeled "Future Schmuture" at the top.

    Christine Sun Kim, Future Schmuture, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm), Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A simple drawing of a golf hole with a flag, labeled "Future with certified sign language interpreters."
    A simple drawing of a golf hole with a flag, labeled "Future with certified sign language interpreters."

    Christine Sun Kim, Future with Certified Sign Language Interpreters, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • A hand with a raised finger splits a line into two paths, with the text "Future Attempts to Hearsplain" above.
    A hand with a raised finger splits a line into two paths, with the text "Future Attempts to Hearsplain" above.

    Christine Sun Kim, Future Attempts to Hearsplain, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

  • Five hands with raised index fingers are connected by a single line. Text above reads "Future Attempts to Deafsplain."
    Five hands with raised index fingers are connected by a single line. Text above reads "Future Attempts to Deafsplain."

    Christine Sun Kim, Future Attempts to Deafsplain, 2016. Charcoal on paper., 11.81 × 15.75 in. (30 × 40 cm). Private collection. © Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy François Ghebaly Gallery and WHITE SPACE

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Art gallery room with six abstract black and white framed artworks on white walls, wooden floor, and a simple bench in the center.
Art gallery room with six abstract black and white framed artworks on white walls, wooden floor, and a simple bench in the center.

Installation view of Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 8-July 6, 2025). From left to right: Degrees of Deaf Rage in Everyday Situations, 2018; Degrees of Institutional Deaf Rage, 2018; Degrees of Deaf Rage While Traveling, 2018; Degrees of Deaf Rage within Educational Settings, 2018; Degrees of Deaf Rage Concerning Interpreters (Terps), 2018; Degrees of My Deaf Rage in the Art World, 2018. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night
Floor 8

Learn more about selected works from artists and curators.

View guide
Gallery with two abstract paintings featuring black and white wave patterns on a black wall, wooden floor, and track lighting.
Gallery with two abstract paintings featuring black and white wave patterns on a black wall, wooden floor, and track lighting.

Installation view of Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 8-July 6, 2025). Mural: Prolonged Echo, 2023 (re-created 2025). From left to right: Long Echo, 2022; Long Echo, 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night
Floor 3

Learn more about selected works from artists and curators.

View guide
Abstract drawing with three nested rectangles. Text reads "Alexander Graham Bell," "Hearing People Anxiety," and "Dinner Table Syndrome."
Abstract drawing with three nested rectangles. Text reads "Alexander Graham Bell," "Hearing People Anxiety," and "Dinner Table Syndrome."

Christine Sun Kim, Three Tables III (AGB, HPA, DTS), 2020. Charcoal on paper, 58 1/4 × 58 1/4 in. (148 × 148 cm). Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase, Bixby Fund, 2023. © Christine Sun Kim

Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night
Floor 1

Learn more about selected works from artists and curators.

View guide

In the News

“Christine Sun Kim shines light on Deaf culture and measures sonic experience beyond the ear.” —The New York Times

“Kim’s Whitney survey is the first major museum show to allow an artist confronting disability to be as expansive as she is…” —Art in America

“...pushes the bounds of language and upends notions about how we connect with one another.” —The Wall Street Journal

“...explores the social currency of sound and its exclusionary effects.” —SSENSE

“...feels thorough, insightful and composed…” —The Guardian

“...fascinating and thought-provoking as it is expansive.” —Artnet News

“...like a kind of revenge on a society that has long passed over disabled artists… revenge at its most gripping.” —New York Magazine

“...groundbreaking exhibition – utilizing sound, language, and the nuances and challenges of communication…” —Forbes

“New Yorkers, don’t miss Christine Sun Kim’s first museum survey…”  —AnOther

“...perceptive, poetic, humorous, and political.”  —Ocula

“...expresses how sound operates in society as social currency and deconstructs the politics of sound in a witty manner.”  —The Korea Herald

“...a homecoming of sorts…” —Robb Report

“...the expansive retrospective shines a light on Kim’s exploration of Deaf lived experiences…”  —Hypebeast

“...iterates…how wondrous, devastating, exhausting, not enough, too much, funny, and beautiful language can be.” —Hyperallergic

“...underscores the ongoing need for accessible and inclusive cultural spaces…” —Ocula

“...alert[s] us to the nuances and poetry, the joy and bitterness of living in, and also outside, the hearing world.”  —Financial Times

“Kim's trademark wit abounds as she explores the politics of sound, and the visual-spatial modality of her native ASL.” —Harper’s Bazaar

“Go now—it’s a triumph.” —Cultured

“[Kim] is on a whole different level” —Interview Magazine

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.