What It Becomes
Through Jan 12
Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991. Pastel and graphite on paper, 46 5/8 × 59 7/8 in. (118.4 × 152.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the Richard E. Bartow Trust 2022.69. © Richard E. Bartow Trust
On view
Floor 3
Open: Aug 24, 2024–Jan 12, 2025
As an act of direct mark making, drawing offers an immediate and spontaneous way for ideas to unfold and images to come into being. Informed by the medium’s potential to illustrate change, this exhibition brings together works from the Whitney’s collection by artists who use drawing as an act of transformation. In their hands, drawing presents a tool to reveal the unseen and make the familiar unrecognizable, or as the artist Toyin Ojih Odutola has remarked, “What it becomes is what I’m interested in.”
Although the works in this exhibition range from the graphic arts to photographs and videos, the processes inherent to drawing play a fundamental role in the creation of each of them. Certain artists employ techniques like inscribing and erasure to alter or reclaim existing images, as seen in works by Ojih Odutola and Wendy Red Star. Others, such as David Hammons and Maren Hassinger, emphasize the tactility of the medium by using their own bodies as drawing tools or surfaces to transform their likeness. All the works bear a close relationship to the figure, ranging from traditional modes of portraiture to more abstract graphic records of human gesture. Harnessing the relationship between drawing, touch, and formation, the artists explore the malleable nature of identity and the possibility of shaping and redefining oneself.
What It Becomes is organized by Scout Hutchinson, Curatorial Fellow.
Generous support for What It Becomes is provided by David Bolger.
En español
Como acto de creación directa, el dibujo ofrece una forma inmediata y espontánea para el desarrollo de ideas e imágenes. Partiendo del potencial del medio para ilustrar cambio, esta exposición reúne obras de la colección del Whitney por artistas que utilizan el dibujo como un acto de transformación. En sus manos, entienden el dibujo de manera que es una herramienta para revelar lo oculto y volver lo familiar irreconocible. Como ha señalado la artista Toyin Ojih Odutola, “En lo que se convierte, es lo que me interesa”.
Aunque las obras aquí presentadas abarcan desde las artes gráficas hasta fotografías y videos, los procesos inherentes al dibujo juegan un papel fundamental en la creación de cada una de ellas. Ciertos artistas emplean técnicas como la inscripción y el borrado para alterar o reclamar imágenes existentes, como en las obras de Ojih Odutola y Wendy Red Star. Otras figuras, como David Hammons y Maren Hassinger, enfatizan la cualidad táctil del medio, al usar sus propios cuerpos como herramientas de dibujo o superficies para transformar su apariencia. Todas las obras guardan una estrecha relación con la figura, desde modos tradicionales de retrato hasta registros gráficos más abstractos de la gestualidad humana. Aprovechando la relación entre dibujo, tacto y formación, los artistas exploran la naturaleza maleable de la identidad y la posibilidad de moldearse y redefinirse a uno mismo.
David Hammons
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To make his body prints, David Hammons coated himself in oil and pressed his body to the paper, effectively turning himself into a mark-making instrument. The process appealed to Hammons for its “element of surprise.” For him, something occurred in the moment his body met the page, which would only be revealed when he lifted himself up and dusted the impression with powdered pigment or charcoal. “I had no idea originally that all those wrinkles and all those folds would actually turn out like that,” he explained. “I just couldn't believe it. I still can't believe what I see sometimes.” As Hammons points out, body printing can capture intricate detail; but what in theory should be the most direct translation of the human form—not dissimilar from a fingerprint—becomes a tool for abstraction and distortion in the artist’s hands, as demonstrated in this surreal, layered self-portrait.
David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969
David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969. Ink, graphite, and body print on paperboard, 39 1/2 × 27 5/8 in. (100.3 × 70.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Beth Rudin DeWoody in honor of David Hammons and Day’s End P.2018.264. © David Hammons. Image © 2016 Christie’s Images Limited
Audio guides
Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991. Pastel and graphite on paper, 46 5/8 × 59 7/8 in. (118.4 × 152.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the Richard E. Bartow Trust 2022.69. © Richard E. Bartow Trust
Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from the exhibition.
View guideInstallation photography
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: clockwise from top left: Blythe Bohnen, Self Portrait: Horizontal Motion Bisected by Vertical Motion, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion From Chin, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion, Small, Vertical Motion, Small, 1983; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Motion Large, Bisected by Vertical Motion, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Circular Motion, Small, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Square Motion, Small, 1974; Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991; Maren Hassinger, Daily Mask, 1997-2004; Darrel Ellis, Self-Portrait after photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1989; Jim Hodges, Untitled, 1992; David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969; Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Cutting, 1993; Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Treatment 20, 2015; Wendy Red Star, Déaxitchish / Pretty Eagle, 2014. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: clockwise from top left: Blythe Bohnen, Self Portrait: Horizontal Motion Bisected by Vertical Motion, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion From Chin, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion, Small, Vertical Motion, Small, 1983; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Motion Large, Bisected by Vertical Motion, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Circular Motion, Small, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Square Motion, Small, 1974; Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991; Darrel Ellis, Self-Portrait after photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1989; Jim Hodges, Untitled, 1992; David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969; Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Cutting, 1993; Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Treatment 20, 2015; Wendy Red Star, Déaxitchish / Pretty Eagle, 2014. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969; Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Cutting, 1993. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Cutting, 1993; Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Treatment 20, 2015; Wendy Red Star, Déaxitchish / Pretty Eagle, 2014. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: Naotaka Hiro, Untitled (Whirlwind), 2018; Naotaka Hiro, Untitled (5432112345), 2018; Darrel Ellis, Self-Portrait after photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1989; Jim Hodges, Untitled, 1992; David Hammons, Close Your Eyes and See Black, 1969. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). From left to right: Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991; Maren Hassinger, Daily Mask, 1997-2004; Naotaka Hiro, Untitled (Whirlwind), 2018; Naotaka Hiro, Untitled (5432112345), 2018. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
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Installation view of What It Becomes (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 24, 2024-January 12, 2025). On left, clockwise from top left: Blythe Bohnen, Self Portrait: Horizontal Motion Bisected by Vertical Motion, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion From Chin, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Pivotal Motion, Small, Vertical Motion, Small, 1983; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Motion Large, Bisected by Vertical Motion, Large, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Horizontal Circular Motion, Small, 1974; Blythe Bohnen, Square Motion, Small, 1974. On right: Rick Bartow, Autobiographical Hawk, 1991. Photograph by Ron Amstutz