Test Pattern
Aug 22–Dec 1, 2013
Nick Mauss, b. 1980, only that, 2012. Glaze on ceramic, 11 1/4 x 14 7/8in. (28.6 x 37.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2013.5. Digital Image, © Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York
A selection of recent acquisitions from the Museum’s permanent collection, Test Pattern brings together works, made mostly in the last three years, that demonstrate artists’ shared interests in investigating the entangled roles of materiality, reproduction and process. Perhaps in response to the increasingly seamless exchanges of visual information in the digital age, the artists featured in this exhibition seem intent on complicating and obscuring content, encouraging slower and more nuanced ways of looking. The phrase “test pattern,” a graphic tool that enables the synchronization of signals for optimum color and clarity, suggests a metaphor for the way these artists question the legibility of images at a moment where technology has amplified the impact of images and accelerated their transmission. Including works by Michele Abeles, Tauba Auerbach, Mathew Cerletty, Leslie Hewitt, Meredyth Sparks, Kaari Upson and others, the exhibition demonstrates the Museum’s continued commitment to collecting work by younger and emerging artists.
Test Pattern is organized by Laura Phipps, Senior Curatorial Assistant and Nicholas Robbins, Curatorial Assistant.
Major support for this exhibition is provided by the John R. Eckel Jr. Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Artists Council of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Installation photography
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
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Installation view of Test Pattern (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 22–December 1, 2013). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
In the News
"The pieces [in Test Pattern] explore how information can be layered, obscured and complicated to create beauty."
—Wired
"The Whitney Museum's Test Pattern Exhibition Challenges The Production Of Digital Images"
—Architectural Digest
The rising young artists of Test Pattern . . . implore you to look up—you might be surprised at the strange patterns all around you.
—W Magazine