Jack Whitten
Jack Whitten | |
---|---|
Born | December 5, 1939 |
Died | January 20, 2018 | (aged 78)
Nationality | American |
Known for | Abstract painting |
Awards | National Medal of Arts |
Jack Whitten (December 5, 1939 – January 20, 2018)[1] was an American painter and sculptor. In 2016, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts.[2][3]
Life
Whitten was born in 1939 in
In 1960, Whitten went to
Whitten believed strongly about
Art
Shortly after graduating from Cooper Union, Whitten had the opportunity to meet other black artists which included, Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis, while he remained in New York to start his art career.[10][11]
Whitten's art style was known to be abstract but he liked to refer to his art as art with truth and soul.
Whitten's
One of Whitten's most famous pieces of work are his Black Monolith Series. Most of the work in this series was a homage or tribute to black activist, politicians and artists.[10] The two known works from this series includes Whitten's, Black Monolith III for Barbara Jordan, 1998[13] and the author of Invisible Man, Black Monolith II for Ralph Ellison, 1994.[14]
Whitten's work was featured in the Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting at the
Whitten spent long portions of the summer in Crete, where he had a studio and made sculptures.[9]
Throughout his career, Whitten concerned himself with the techniques and materials of painting and the relationship of artworks to their inspirations. At times he has pursued quickly-applied gestural techniques akin to photography or printmaking. At other times the deliberative and constructive hand is evident. The New York Times labeled him the father of a "new abstraction."
When the
President Barack Obama awarded Whitten the 2015 National Medal of Arts Award.[18]
Exhibitions
In 2013, curator Katy Siegel organized the exhibition Light Years: Jack Whitten, 1971-73 at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.[19] The exhibition featured many works created by Whitten between 1971 and 1973, which had never been exhibited before.[20] In 2014, a retrospective exhibition was organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego.[21] The exhibition traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts in 2015[22] and to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from September 13, 2015, to January 24, 2016 [7][23] As part of his Walker engagement, Whitten wrote an Artist Op-Ed on racism and "the role of art in times of unspeakable violence."[24]
On February 3, 2018
In 2018, a retrospective "Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture 1963–2016" was organized around the time of his passing and opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art from April 22, 2018, to July 29, 2018.[9] The exhibition traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from September 6 to December 2, 2018, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from March 3 to May 27, 2019. In 2019, the first solo exhibition in a European institution was shown at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart Berlin.[26]
Art market
Whitten was represented by Hauser & Wirth (2016–2018), Alexander Gray Associates (2007–2016) and Zeno X Gallery.[27]
Personal life
At 78, Whitten died on January 20, 2018.
References
- ^ a b Washington Post, Jack Whitten
- ^ "President Obama to Award National Medals of Arts | NEA". www.arts.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
- ^ Greenberger, Alex (2018-01-21). "Jack Whitten, Beloved Painter of Abstract Cosmologies, Dies at 78". ARTnews. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4381-0777-6.
- ISBN 978-1-933045-39-9.
- ^ ISBN 9781885820013.
- ^ a b c d e f Sung, Victoria. "Stories of the Soul: A Farewell to Jack Whitten". Walker Art. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ DeBerry, Linda (23 January 2018). "An Interview with artist Jack Whitten". Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c Smee, Sebastian (January 22, 2018). "Jack Whitten: once neglected artist lately the toast of the art world". The Washington Post. Washington DC. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- ^ a b c Sung, Victoria. "Stories of the Soul: A farewell to Jack Whitten". Walker Art. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- MFA Boston. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ DeBerry, Linda (23 January 2018). "An interview with artist Jack Whitten". Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "Black Monolith III for Barbara Jordan". The MET. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ "Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison)". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ Cochran, Rebecca Dimling (8 May 2008). "Jack Whitten at The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center". Artforum. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ Elisabeth Kley, "Jack Whitten | FROM GARBAGE TO GEMS" ArtNet, 2011.
- ^ Mary Abbe, "Unmasked: All-American art of Jack Whitten opens at Walker Art Center", StarTribune, September 14, 2015.
- ^ DeBerry, Linda (23 January 2018). "An interview with artist Jack Whitten". Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ "Light Years: Jack Whitten, 1971-73".
- ^ "Gregory Williams on Jack Whitten". www.artforum.com. December 2013. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ "JACK WHITTEN: FIVE DECADES OF PAINTING: Saturday, Sep 20, 2014-Sunday, Jan 04, 2015 at MCASD La Jolla", Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
- ^ "Jack Whitten: Five Decades of Painting, May 16, 2015–Aug 2, 2015", Wexner Center for the Arts.
- ^ "Jack Whitten: Five Decades of Painting", Walker.
- ^ Jack Whitten, "A Circle of Blood", Sightlines, Walker, December 3, 2015.
- ^ DeBerry, Linda (23 January 2018). "An interview with artist Jack Whitten". Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ "Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks".
- ^ Alex Greenberger (April 15, 2016), Hauser & Wirth Adds Jack Whitten to Its Roster, Plans Show for Spring 2017 ARTnews.
Further reading
- Goldsmith, Kenneth (Summer 1994), "Jack Whitten[permanent dead link]", Bomb Magazine.
- Storr, Rober (September 2007), "Jack Whitten with Robert Storr", Brooklyn Rail
- Ostrove, Saul (April 2008), "Process, Image and Elegy"[permanent dead link], Art in America.
- Fox, Catherine (April 26, 2008), "Close to history: Alabama-born artist who boarded a bus to New York in 1960 makes a triumphant return to the South", Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Moyer, Carrie (October 2009), "Jack Whitten", The Brooklyn Rail
- Jack Whitten at the MoMa PS1 (May 24—October 15, 2007)
- Kuo, Michelle (February 2012), "Artist's Portfolio: Jack Whitten," Artforum International