IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT\u2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n
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\n\tIt was a rainy Tuesday late afternoon, and for a second we fantasized about taking a cab to the opening of the 2026 Whitney Biennial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBut then I opened up one of those apps, and saw that it wanted something close to 60 actual dollars for what should be a 12 minute ride. Yellow cabs were as sparse as the apps were absurd, so I convinced a rightfully skeptical KL that riding a corporate e-bike was our BEST<\/em> option. Besides, we were late!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tKL riding a citibike in the rain to the biennial opening. I have since apologized to him for suggesting this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tWet and a little salty, KL and I docked our bikes on the corner and hurried inside. No line! I winced thinking about what the scene would look like in about an hour. Every biennial opening I\u2019ve been to has always had a black friday level line stretching down the block\u2026except this opening is always on Tuesday. Green Tuesday?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tGood luck out there, comrades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tThe lobby of the Whitney Museum during the opening of the 2026 Whitney Biennial\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbout half an hour before the official 7pm invitation time, the party had already started. The museum invites biennial artists and their guests to arrive early, around 6pm. This means they can skip the line and actually get inside, instead of getting stuck in a receiving line at the entrance all night. Plus, that\u2019s not even anything compared to how crowded it can be inside. One svelte book editor quipped to me that he felt like he was at a rave <\/em>because there were so many people. The crowd crush rivals only that of the Printed Matter Book Fair. For the claustrophobic, it\u2019s a bit of a nightmare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBut I\u2019m a freak, so I actually love it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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THE PARTY IN THE LOBBY<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n
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\n\tDJ Perly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tGreg Reynolds, art preparator at the Whitney, delivers curator Marcela Guerrero a drink in style<\/p>\n
\n\tInside, we quickly found 2026 biennial co-curator Marcela Guerrero.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
Marcela! Congratulations on the exhibition. How do you feel?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m feeling a little tired and a lot tired. Exhausted, you know\u2014I have all the feels. We had the press preview today, it went awesome. Have you seen Drew yet?<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t yet\u2014but I bet after working together so intensely, you guys must now have a find-my-friends style spidey sense of each other\u2019s location. What was it like working with Drew?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tIt was really great to work with Drew. We didn\u2019t realize how well we would work together. Especially the traveling part, you can\u2019t travel with just anyone. But we traveled together something like 95% of the time. We both are really easy travelers. Same flight, same hotel, we went everywhere together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What location was the biggest surprise for you, in terms of finding artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tOne big surprise was New Mexico\u2014we went back twice. Love, love New Mexico: so many artists live there who are from there, and now, a lot of other artists are moving there. It\u2019s interesting what\u2019s happening there, and how the arts are involved. We also went to Hawai\u2019i for the Hawai\u2019i Triennial: that was incredible. It was a great show, thinking about the Pacific Ocean and about water as the connective thread between the pacific region. We went to a lot of places in Hawai\u2019i, saw a lot of shows, and met a lot of artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems hard to do a show about art in America in 2026\u2014but really, whenever. To pull on any slice of time, to take life and present it as a moment. How did you approach doing that?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tIt was weird! Especially the remit of doing a biennial every two years when art and artistic practices don\u2019t really work on that timeline. So it can be kind of hard to map that, and to square those two things together. But it\u2019s also a huge privilege. Almost any artist that we wanted to visit, for the most part they would say yes. People opened their doors to us, and we would get to see where they were working. It was really incredible. It\u2019s something I probably won\u2019t ever do again: I mean, four to ten studio visits a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you still call everyone to notify them that they are in the exhibition?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tYeah\u2014we did Zooms! We talked to everyone individually and told them they were in the biennial.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
How does it feel to give that news?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tI loved it. Some people cried, and that was very touching. And other people\u2014and now I understand\u2014but you are reacting as if I just told: you you got mail<\/em>! [laughs]<\/p>\n
They did get mail. It\u2019s like, <\/strong>\u2018Now you have a lot of work to do!\u2019<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tExactly\u2014you\u2019ve got mail! But it was very sweet. Everyone was very excited. We had the artist party the other night\u2014they saw their work first\u2014and now everyone is having a fantastic night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Any advice for future Biennial curators?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tOh my gosh. I have so many tips. Call me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Cool shoes: <\/em>Apologies to Marcela, but, I had to. The pedicure!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tMahete, Coco, and mom\u00a0<\/p>\n
How do you feel about your mom being in the Whitney Biennial?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tIn unison: It\u2019s pretty awesome!<\/p>\n
At what moment did you realize it was cool?<\/strong> Mahete<\/em>: When I told my teacher where I was going, they were like: The Whitney Biennial? That is really cool!<\/em> And then I was like: hmm\u2026 this might actually be important<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tAnna Tsouhlarakis, Marie Lorenz, Lan Tuazon, and Melissa Brown, Artists<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tArtist Patrice Helmar with Curran Hattleberg, a 2019 Biennial Artist<\/p>\n
How\u2019s your night going?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Patrice<\/em>: It\u2019s great. We are at the biennial, I\u2019m drinking a ginger seltzer. Pretty amazing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you guys have any friends in the show?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Curran<\/em>: Mo Costello! That\u2019s the one you gotta see. Incredible person, incredible art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tKL Mays with the tiny mic interviewing artist Patrice Helmar and Curran Hattleberg, a 2019 Biennial Artist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tArtist Chitra Ganesh<\/p>\n
Do you have any biennial opening strategies?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tChitra: Yeah\u2014I\u2019m gonna say hi to fifteen people, and then go home! You guys are one and two.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tCurator Eduardo Andres Alfonso and writer Kat Harriman<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tCurator Eduardo Andres Alfonso, artist Camille Henrot, and Art in America <\/em>editor Emily Watlington<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tDaisy Nam, director and curator of CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tAmanda Herrera and Akili Tommasino<\/p>\n
Wow you guys! So exciting \u2013 When\u2019s the baby due?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Amanda<\/em>: I\u2019m due March 10th, so sometime next week. Who knows. Hopefully not tonight!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you think that would be the first ever baby born at<\/em> the Whitney Biennial?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Amanda<\/em>: Yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Akili<\/em>: Performance art gone way too far\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you guys have a name yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Akili<\/em>: Whitney is gender neutral!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tCharlie Markbreiter, Precious Okoyomon, Bobbi Salv\u00f6r Menuez, my apologies to the one person i wasn\u2019t able to identify in the whole piece, Quori Theodor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tAdrienne Edwards, Curator at the Whitney, and Natalie Diaz, Artist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tTaina Cruz<\/p>\n
Congratulations on the Whitney Biennial! You are the youngest artist in the show, right?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tThank you! I am\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ok, so let\u2019s talk about something else<\/strong>. [both laugh<\/em>] How about the work \u2013 what are you showing?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI have multiple pieces. I have the billboard that\u2019s right outside, so my work starts outside. And inside, I have an installation with a wall drawing, a video animation, painting, and a bronze sculpture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wow! That\u2019s a lot!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tYeah. I know. I was working with this giant architectural curved space that they gave me, so I just proposed incorporating a bunch of mediums on that wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You are showing a lot of different kinds of work\u2014how long have you been installing?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tOof. My wall drawing, which was site specific, I did over two weeks ago when they were installing everyone else\u2019s work\u2014and that was just like an intense period seeing everyone scrambling about, but I got to be with the art preparators and the AV team, and they were the ones that really responded to the work and I think that connection really shone through\u2026 Shout out to the art preparators and AV team! They held it down for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Does it feel like an accomplishment yet?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIt absolutely does. Especially that my parents are here to witness this, because they put me in everything art-related that was possible as a child. And so for them to see what I\u2019m doing right now\u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also, just to interject\u2014yay uptown!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah like!! I\u2019ve been shouting out Uptown, Bronx, Harlem, represent! I mean like, come on\u2026 so I think like I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I\u2019ve been working for a very long time with the arts. It was always something about survival for me, so now it feels good to at least celebrate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tTaina Cruz and family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tThe Lobby around 8pm<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tOliver Newton, 47 Canal\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAs we were heading upstairs to catch the exhibition, I caught Oliver Newton of 47 Canal (the gallery that reps me) slinking toward the exit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What! Leaving? Where are you going?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tOliver Newton: Shhh\u2026 I\u2019m trying to go catch the second half of the Knicks game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Go Knicks!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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WE TRIED THE STAIRS \/ ASCENDING A STAIRCASE, attempt No. 1<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n
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\n\tThe staircase in the lobby around 8:00pm<\/p>\n
\n\tThe only way I can try to explain what it was like to go up these stairs was that it was like I was trying to climb a mountain, during an avalanche. Except instead of snow, it was all of your favorite people you hadn\u2019t seen in like, two years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tLegacy Russell, writer and executive director and chief curator at The Kitchen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tKelly Long, Senior Curatorial Assistant at the Whitney<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve gotten to spend time with the show as it\u2019s come together. Do you have any favorite installations yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tErin Jane Nelson\u2019s whole installation and ceramic pinhole cameras are quite special to me. I love their weird, beautiful smallness, and the big way they do their work out in the world, creating the images that anchor the nearby, related wall works. There\u2019s some kind of wonderful photo alchemy happening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tBridget Donahue descending a staircase<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tBridget Donahue descending a staircase excitedly!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tArtist Doron Langberg attempting to pull me up and out of the stairwell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tDeana Haggag, Program Director for Arts and Culture at Andrew W. Mellon Foundation<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your take on the Biennial so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tI loved seeing Hawaiian artists in the show! Now I want more, and more, and more, and more, and more\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tDeana Haggag, Program Director for Arts and Culture at Andrew W. Mellon Foundation<\/p>\n
Can I ask you another question?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tWait a minute\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tDeana Haggag, Program Director for Arts and Culture at Andrew W. Mellon Foundation<\/p>\n
Deana<\/em>: Actually.. I have some questions for you!<\/p>\n
\n\tLike most nightmares, this one started like a dream. Remember that avalanche? And now I felt like I was in a Resident-Evil-style video game dodging zombies\u2026 this was turning into the Night of My Living Emails!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tWork by Sung Tieu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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\n\tGrace Sanabria, Director at 47 Canal\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThankfully, I ran into Grace, who saved me from my e-mail spiral.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve done this so many times before\u2014any Biennial survival tips?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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