Two Puerto Ricans artists Chemi Rosado-Seijo and Bea Santiago Muñoz to the Whitney Biennial 2017

The formation of self and the individual’s place in a turbulent society are among the key themes reflected in the work of the artists selected for the 2017 Whitney Biennial. The exhibition includes sixty-three participants, ranging from emerging to well-established individuals and collectives working in painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, film and video, photography, activism, performance, music, and video game design.

With a history of exhibiting the most promising and influential artists and provoking intense debate, the Whitney Biennial—the Museum’s signature exhibition—is the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States. The Biennial, an invitational show of work produced in the preceding two years, was introduced by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1932, and it is the only continuous series of exhibitions in the country to survey recent developments in American art. This will be the first presentation of the Biennial in the Whitney’s new downtown building at 99 Gansevoort Street, and it will be curated by Whitney associate curator Christopher Y. Lew and independent curator Mia Locks.The show, which opens March 17 and runs until June 11.

Whitney Museum of American Art. Photograph by Nic Lehoux

2017 BIENNIAL ARTISTS

Zarouhie Abdalian - Born 1982 in New Orleans, LA Lives in New Orleans, LA

Basma Alsharif - Born 1983 in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Jo Baer - Born 1929 in Seattle, WA, Lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Eric Baudelaire - Born 1973 in Salt Lake City, UT, Lives in Paris, France

Robert Beavers - Born 1949 in Brookline, MA, Lives in Berlin, Germany and Falmouth, MA

Larry Bell - Born 1939 in Chicago, IL, Lives in Taos, NM and Los Angeles, CA

Matt Browning - Born 1984 in Redmond, WA, Lives in Seattle, WA

Susan Cianciolo - Born 1969 in Providence, RI, Lives in Brooklyn, NY 

Mary Helena Clark - Born 1983 in Santee, SC, Lives in Hamilton, NY 

John Divola - Born 1949 in Santa Monica, CA, Lives in Riverside, CA 

Celeste Dupuy-Spencer - Born 1979 in New York, NY, Lives in Los Angeles, CA 

Rafa Esparza, Born 1981 in Los Angeles, CA - Lives in Los Angeles, CA 

Kevin Jerome Everson - Born 1965 in Mansfield, OH, Lives in Charlottesville, VA

GCC -  (Nanu Al-Hamad, Abdullah Al-Mutairi, Aziz Alqatami, Barrak Alzaid, Khalid al Gharaballi, Amal Khalaf, Fatima Al Qadiri, Monira Al Qadiri), Founded 2013

Oto Gillen - Born 1984 in New York, NY, Lives in New York, NY

Samara Golden - Born 1973 in Ann Arbor, MI, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Casey Gollan and Victoria Sobel - Born 1991 in Los Angeles, CA; born 1990 in Washington, DC, Lives in New York, NY; lives in New York, NY

Irena Haiduk - Biographical information not given

Lyle Ashton Harris - Born 1965 in Bronx, NY , Lives in New York, NY

Tommy Hartung - Born 1979 in Akron, OH, Lives in Queens, NY

Porpentine Charity Heartscape - Born 1987, location not given, Lives in Oakland, CA

Sky Hopinka - Born 1984 in Bellingham, WA, Lives in Milwaukee, WI

Shara Hughes - Born 1981 in Atlanta, GA, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Aaron Flint Jamison - Born 1979 in Billings, MT, Lives in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA

KAYA - (Kerstin Brätsch and Debo Eilers), Founded 2010

Jon Kessler - Born 1957 in Yonkers, NY, Lives in New York, NY

James N. Kienitz Wilkins - Born in 1983 in Boston, MA, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Ajay Kurian - Born 1984 in Baltimore, MD, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Deana Lawson - Born 1979 in Rochester, NY, Lives Brooklyn, NY

An-My Lê - Born 1960 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Leigh Ledare - Born 1976 in Seattle, WA, Lives in New York, NY

Dani Leventhal - Born 1972 in Columbus, OH, Lives in Columbus, OH

Tala Madani - Born 1981 in Tehran, Iran, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Park McArthur - Born 1984 in Raleigh, NC, Lives in New York, NY

Harold Mendez - Born 1977 in Chicago, IL, Lives in Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA

Carrie Moyer - Born 1960 in Detroit, MI, Lives in New York, NY

Ulrike Müller - Born 1971 in Brixlegg, Austria, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Julien Nguyen - Born 1990 in Washington, DC, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Tuan Andrew Nguyen - Born 1976 in Saigon, Vietnam, Lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Raúl de Nieves - Born 1983 in Morelia, Mexico, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Aliza Nisenbaum - Born 1977 in Mexico City, Mexico, Lives in New York, NY

Occupy Museums - (Arthur Polendo, Imani Jacqueline Brown, Kenneth Pietrobono, Noah Fischer, and Tal Beery), Founded 2011

Pope.L aka William Pope.L - Born 1955 in Newark, NJ, Lives in Chicago, IL

Postcommodity - (Raven Chacon, Cristóbal Martínez, Kade L. Twist), Founded 2007

Puppies Puppies - Born 1989 in Dallas, TX, Lives in Roswell, NM

Asad Raza - Born 1974 in Buffalo, NY, Lives in New York, NY

Jessi Reaves - Born 1986 in Portland, OR, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

John Riepenhoff - Born 1982 in Milwaukee, WI, Lives in Milwaukee, WI

Chemi Rosado-Seijo - Born 1973 in Vega Alta, PR, Lives in San Juan and Naranjito, PR

Cameron Rowland - Born 1988 in Philadelphia, PA, Lives in Queens, NY

Beatriz Santiago Muñoz - Born 1972 in San Juan, PR, Lives in San Juan, PR

Dana Schutz - Born 1976 in Livonia, MI, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Cauleen Smith - Born 1967 in Riverside, CA|, Lives in Chicago, IL

Frances Stark - Born 1967 in Newport Beach, CA, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Maya Stovall - Born 1982 in Detroit, MI, Lives in Detroit, MI

Henry Taylor - Born 1958 in Oxnard, CA, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Torey Thornton - Born 1990 in Macon, GA, Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Leslie Thornton and James Richards - Born 1951 in Knoxville, TN; born 1983 in Cardiff, United Kingdom, Lives in Brooklyn, NY; lives in Berlin, Germany and London, United Kingdom

Kaari Upson - Born 1972 in San Bernardino, CA, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Kamasi Washington - Born 1981 in Los Angeles, CA, Lives in Los Angeles, CA

Leilah Weinraub - Born 1979 in Los Angeles, CA, Lives in Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY

Jordan Wolfson - Born 1980 in New York, NY, Lives in New York, NY

Anicka Yi - Born 1971 in Seoul, South Korea, Lives in Queens, NY