Inheritance

June 28, 2023–Feb 4, 2024

Superimposed black and white film photos of a child.
Superimposed black and white film photos of a child.

Sophie Rivera, I am U, 1995. Gelatin silver print, 38 5/8 × 38 9/16 in. (98.1 × 97.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the artist 2019.390. © Estate of Dr. Martin Hurwitz 




Inheritance traces the profound impacts of legacy and the past across familial, historical, and aesthetic lines. Featuring new acquisitions and rarely-seen works from the Whitney collection by forty-three leading artists, the exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs, and time-based media installations from the 1970s to today. This diverse array of works consider what has been passed on and how it may shift, change, or live again.

Drawing inspiration from Ephraim Asili’s 2020 film of the same title, Inheritance reflects on multiple meanings of the word, whether celebratory or painful, from one era, person, or idea to the next. The exhibition takes a layered approach to storytelling by interweaving narrative with documentary and personal experiences with historical and generational events. A group of works examining the cycle from birth to death opens the exhibition, while other galleries take up different kinds of lineages, such as how artists borrow from and remake art history or unspool legacies of racialized violence and their recurrences.

The poet Rio Cortez speaks of being “framed by our future knowing”—even as we sit in this moment, we slide backward and forward in time, between our foremothers and the descendants we will never know. Rather than passively accepting our current state, the artists whose work is on view here ask: How did we get here, as individuals and as a society, and where are we going?

This exhibition is organized by Rujeko Hockley, Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art with David Lisbon, curatorial assistant.


En Español

Esta exposición traza la idea de herencia (lo que nos queda o lo que hemos recibido del pasado) a través de líneas familiares, históricas y estéticas. Presentando en su mayoría nuevas adquisiciones y obras rara vez vistas de la colección permanente, la muestra explora las nociones de repetición y referencia, nacimiento y renacimiento, generación y regeneración, mediante una variada selección de obras desde 1970 hasta hoy.

Inspirándose en la película The Inheritance de Ephraim Asili de 2020, Herencia se acerca al relato desde diversos niveles, entrelazando narrativa con documentales y experiencias personales con eventos históricos y generacionales. La exhibición considera múltiples significados de herencia, ya sean celebratorios o dolorosos, de una era, persona o de una idea a otra. Un grupo de obras que abre la muestra, examinan el ciclo del nacimiento hasta la muerte, mientras que otras galerías exploran diferentes tipos de linajes, como las maneras en que los artistas toman prestada de la historia del arte y la reescriben, o revelan legados de violencia racial y sus recurrencias.

La poeta Rio Cortez habla de estar “enmarcados por nuestro conocimiento futuro”, incluso mientras nos ubicamos en este momento temporal, nos desplazamos hacia atrás y hacia adelante, pensando no sólo en nuestras antepasadas, sino también en los descendientes que nunca vamos a conocer. Las pinturas, esculturas, videos, fotografías e instalaciones aquí reunidas plantean preguntas sobre lo que nos fue transmitido y cómo podría desplazarse, cambiar o vivir de nuevo. Más que una aceptación pasiva del estado actual de las cosas, los artistas en la exposición nos piden ponderar qué ideas y experiencias pueden estar detrás de lo que vemos o creemos saber. Fundamentalmente, ¿cómo llegamos aquí, como individuos y sociedad, y hacia dónde nos dirigimos?


Life/Death

1

As the sole ways in and out of life, birth and death might be the only truly universal human experiences. Despite that universality, or perhaps because of it, they are fraught—scrutinized, policed, politicized, and feared, but also romanticized and idolized. The interdisciplinary selection of works in this gallery looks at these two poles of existence, and some of what falls in between, in order to examine inheritance in its most commonly understood forms, the intrafamilial and the intergenerational. Together, these works present a vision of inheritance that while rooted in quotidian experiences honors the complex and specific legacies of place, politics, and era.

  • Elderly man gazing at a glowing birthday cake with candles in a dark room.
    Elderly man gazing at a glowing birthday cake with candles in a dark room.

    Kevin Jerome Everson, Ninety-Three, 2008. 16mm film, black-and-white, silent, 3 min., transferred to video. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Film, Video, and New Media Committee 2012.16. © Kevin Jerome Everson; courtesy the artist, Tribolite-Arts DAC, and Picture Palace Pictures

  • A gallery wall with a diverse collection of framed photographs, artworks, and text-based pieces in various sizes and colors, arranged in a clustered fashion above a shiny metallic silver couch on a wooden floor.
    A gallery wall with a diverse collection of framed photographs, artworks, and text-based pieces in various sizes and colors, arranged in a clustered fashion above a shiny metallic silver couch on a wooden floor.

    Sadie Barnette, Family Tree II, 2022. Thirty four inkjet prints, spray paint, collage and rhinestones on paper, and a holographic vinyl couch, overall: 195 × 204 × 34 in. (495.3 × 518.2 × 86.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Director's Discretionary Fund, Bill Gautreaux, the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection, and the Jackson Family Trust 2023.45a-ii. © Sadie Barnette

  • A Black couple sit in the nude in a lush green garden; the man's hand reaches across the woman's belly.
    A Black couple sit in the nude in a lush green garden; the man's hand reaches across the woman's belly.

    Deanna Lawson, The Garden, Gemena, DR Congo, 2015. Inkjet print, 55 3/16 × 69 9/16 in. (140.2 × 176.7 cm). Edition 1/1. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Jack E. Chachkes Endowed Purchase Fund 2016.83. © Deana Lawson and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL

  • Double exposure photograph shows two young children's faded images superimposed on one another, sitting on the same slide. One wears a birthday party hat.
    Double exposure photograph shows two young children's faded images superimposed on one another, sitting on the same slide. One wears a birthday party hat.

    Sophie Rivera, I am U, 1995. Gelatin silver print, 38 5/8 × 38 9/16 in. (98.1 × 97.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the artist 2019.390. © Estate of Dr. Martin Hurwitz

  • An installation view of a video projection in a gallery.
    An installation view of a video projection in a gallery.

    Mary Kelly, Installation view of Antepartum, 1973. Super 8 film transferred to video, black-and-white, silent; 1:30 min. looped. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the artist 2002.335

  • A mother and child share a moment, overlaid with "CHAPTER 1 - MOMMY" and a backdrop of twinkling lights.
    A mother and child share a moment, overlaid with "CHAPTER 1 - MOMMY" and a backdrop of twinkling lights.

    Maggie Lee, Mommy, 2012–2015. Video, color, sound, 55 min., aspect Ratio: 16:9. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Film, Video, and New Media Committee 2017.8. © Maggie Lee, courtesy Beta Pictures and Real Fine Arts

  • A vertical hanging textile with variable bands of bold and earthy colors and concentric squares at the middle
    A vertical hanging textile with variable bands of bold and earthy colors and concentric squares at the middle

    Diedrick Brackens, they spring from the embers of my mouth, 2019. Cotton yarn, overall: 64 × 48 × 1/2 in. (162.6 × 121.9 × 1.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Nancy and David Frej 2020.178. © Diedrick Brackens

  • A man and child lay together in colors of blue, orange, and red.
    A man and child lay together in colors of blue, orange, and red.

    Dindga McCannon, Father & Son, 1981. Linoleum cut, 11 1/2 × 18 in. (29.2 × 45.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Stephen Dull 2022.201. © Dindga McCannon. Image courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery

  • A photograph of a wall with a hole in it covered by a dry vine.
    A photograph of a wall with a hole in it covered by a dry vine.

    Ralston Crawford, Untitled (Tomb and Weeds), 1973. Gelatin silver print, sheet: 13 15/16 × 11 in. (35.4 × 27.9 cm) Image: 10 1/2 × 10 7/16 in. (26.7 × 26.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of John Crawford 2013.215. © Ralston Crawford Estate / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • A multi-panel video art installation displaying a fragmented image with blue tones, showing what appears to be a historical battle scene with explosions and figures, projected onto an arrangement of unevenly aligned rectangular screens, with a series of small, illuminated stands at the bottom.
    A multi-panel video art installation displaying a fragmented image with blue tones, showing what appears to be a historical battle scene with explosions and figures, projected onto an arrangement of unevenly aligned rectangular screens, with a series of small, illuminated stands at the bottom.

    Bruce and Norman Yonemoto, Environmental, 1993. Two-channel video installation, black-and-white, sound, 24:30 min., with CRT television set and screens. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Wilfred P. and Rose J. Cohen Purchase Fund 2021.103. © Bruce Yonemoto

  • A black and white photograph of a field with a smaller color image of a mother holding a child.
    A black and white photograph of a field with a smaller color image of a mother holding a child.

    Widline Cadet, Sé Sou Ou Mwen Mété Espwa m #1 (I Put All My Hopes On You #1), 2021. Archival inkjet print and inkjet print, with artist's frames, overall: 50 13/16 × 40 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (129.1 × 103.5 × 6.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Avo Samuelian and Hector Manuel Gonzalez 2022.223a-b

  • A framed document on a wall next to a sunlit concrete surface with a shadow of a cross and Arabic inscriptions on a tombstone.
    A framed document on a wall next to a sunlit concrete surface with a shadow of a cross and Arabic inscriptions on a tombstone.

    Emily Jacir, Munir, 2001–2003. Chromogenic print and text panel, overall: 35 3/4 × 38 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (90.8 × 98.4 × 3.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2004.604a-b. © 2003 Emily Jacir

  • A person amongst different phases of the moon kneels over a group of people below connected through a line with many branches.
    A person amongst different phases of the moon kneels over a group of people below connected through a line with many branches.

    Wakeah Jhane, Grandmother’s Prayers, 2021. Gouache, watercolor, acrylic, graphite pencil and ink on found paper, sheet: 19 × 15 3/8 in. (48.3 × 39.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of an anonymous donor courtesy of the People’s Art Fund 2022.146




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A monument of a man riding a horse behind a translucent banner hung between two columns on a grassy street island
A monument of a man riding a horse behind a translucent banner hung between two columns on a grassy street island

An-My Lê, Monument, General P.G.T. Beauregard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, from the series The Silent General, 2015-2017. Inkjet print, 39 1/4 × 55 13/16 in. (99.7 × 141.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2018.86. © An-My Lê, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from the exhibition.

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In the News

“The thematic content of the show is ambitious, ranging from slavery and the Great Migration to Covid, African religious traditions, the human lifespan, colonization and the sources of artistic creativity.” —The Guardian

“The show considers some of the painful and difficult legacies that have shaped our society…”  —Aesthetica Magazine 

“...a captivating group show at the Whitney” —Whitewall

“This is an exhibition that raises a number of questions about how we as individuals respond to our world…” —Highbrow Magazine