Accessibility Information
Henry Taylor: B Side
The Whitney invites disabled and non-disabled visitors to experience the richness and complexity of American art. Here’s what to expect before visiting Henry Taylor: B Side. If you need to request any accessibility accommodations, please review our Access Services page.
The survey exhibition, Henry Taylor: B Side features painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation. In working from personal experience and shared history, Taylor offers a view of everyday life in America that is grounded in the experiences of his own community, including the incarceration, poverty, and often deadly interactions with police that disproportionately affect Black Americans. A few works in this exhibition include heavy subject matter, including but not limited to anti-Black language and photographs of victims of police murder. In particular, there is a large painting depicting the 2016 murder of Philando Castille by police, titled THE TIMES THAY AINT A CHANGING, FAST ENOUGH!, which is located in the fourth room of the show moving counterclockwise from the beginning of the show.
None of the artworks should be touched or interacted with in a tactile way. There is very limited friction tape installed in the gallery, and several standalone sculptures are installed in the corners and centers of the space. Some artwork is displayed in plexiglass boxes on pillars, which visitors are intended to weave between. A sculptural installation, Untitled, which includes life-size plastic mannequins wearing leather jackets in the style of the Black Panthers Party grouped together beyond a pedestal, is installed in the second to last gallery space. There are benches provided throughout the exhibition. On the east side of the fifth floor, there is a small room with a charcoal drawing on the wall of the Museum, which is opposed by a wall of floor to ceiling windows; visitors are encouraged to rest on three benches positioned in this gallery.
The exhibition is quiet, with no works of art that include sound. It is well-lit with overhead light, and the individual gallery spaces are spacious. Detailed verbal descriptions of five works in the exhibition, including THE TIMES THAY AINT A CHANGING, FAST ENOUGH!, are accessible via the mobile guide, which you can find via the QR code at the start of the exhibition and at whitney.org/guide.
