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2012 Whitney Biennial List, Leaked

by Paddy Johnson on December 21, 2011 · 15 comments

Kai Althoff, Punkt, Absatz, Blümli” (period, paragraph, Blümli), at Gladstone Gallery

Thanks to GalleristNY for publishing an email with the names of the Whitney Biennial artists. So far the blog’s only been able to confirm the following names in a list of 51: Kai Althoff, Forrest Bess (by Robert Gober), Moyra Davey, Kate Levant, John Knight, Richard Hawkins, Werner Herzog, and Joanna Malinowska.

We’re republishing the list below followed by some initial thoughts.

1. Kai Althoff
2. Thom Andersen
3. Charles Atlas
4. Lutz Bacher
5. Forrest Bess (by Robert Gober)
6. Michael Clark
7. Dennis Cooper and Gisèle Vienne
8. Cameron Crawford
9. Moyra Davey
10. Liz Deschenes
11. Nathaniel Dorsky
12. Nicole Eisenman
13. Kevin Jerome Everson
14. Vincent Fecteau
15. Andrea Fraser
16. LaToya Ruby Frazier
17. Vincent Gallo
18. K8 Hardy
19. Richard Hawkins
20. Werner Herzog
21. Jerome Hiler
22. Matt Hoyt
23. Dawn Kasper
24. Mike Kelley
25. John Kelsey
26. Jutta Koether
27. John Knight
28. George Kuchar
29. Laida Lertxundi
30. Kate Levant
31. Sam Lewitt
32. Joanna Malinowska
33. Andrew Masullo
34. Nick Mauss
35. Richard Maxwell
36. Sarah Michelson
37. Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran
38. Laura Poitras
39. Matt Porterfield
40. Luther Price
41. Lucy Raven
42. The Red Krayola
43. Kelly Reichardt
44. Elaine Reichek
45. Michael Robinson
46. Georgia Sagri
47. Michael E. Smith
48. Tom Thayer
49. Wu Tsang
50. Oscar Tuazon
51. Frederick Wiseman

A few initial impressions about a list of mostly unconfirmed names

  • Even if this is a wish list, it’s good  to see Tom Thayer, George Kuchar, and Nicole Eisenman making the rounds. These are each artists the blog has dedicated a fair number of words to, and we like their work a lot.
  • Georgia Sagri: INTERESTING. This is the woman whose is not only connected to the ill-fated occupations of Artists Space, Performa, and the New School, but played a key role in The Pee in the Pan incident at PS1′s Brooklyn Is Burning event.  It was there that she played the role of “Jane”, a woman who claimed Sagri could not make the event but that she (Jane) had an important (never announced) announcement to make. The peeing took place when the performance artist who followed Sagri’s act, Ann Liv Young, decided she didn’t like the piece.  She critiqued the work as part of her own performance, masturbated in front of Sagri, and peed in a pan before Klaus Biesenbach decided to cut the power. All this this is good background to know about the artist, but also indicative of the reflections Magda Sawon tweeted just moments ago, “the WB list is very “artforum-y”, mercifully short on big art market stars, it runs a tad towards boring and insular”.

Tagged as: Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran, Andrea Fraser, Andrew Masullo, Cameron Crawford, charles atlas, Dawn Kasper, Dennis Cooper and Gisèle Vienne, Elaine Reichek, Forrest Bess (by Robert Gober), Frederick Wiseman, George Kuchar, Georgia Sagri, Jerome Hiler, Joanna Malinowska, John Kelsey, John Knight, Jutta Koether, K8 Hardy, Kai Althoff, Kate Levant, Kelly Reichardt, Kevin Jerome Everson, Laida Lertxundi, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Laura Poitras, Liz Deschenes, Lucy Raven, Luther Price, Lutz Bacher, Matt Hoyt, Matt Porterfield, Michael Clark, Michael E. Smith, Michael Robinson, Mike Kelley, Moyra Davey, Nathaniel Dorsky, Nick Mauss, Nicole Eisenman, Oscar Tuazon, Richard Hawkins, Richard Maxwell, Sam Lewitt, Sarah Michelson, The Red Krayola, Thom Andersen, Tom Thayer, Vincent Fecteau, Vincent Gallo, Werner Herzog, Wu Tsang

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  • StevenKaplan

    Artforum-y. Yes. Also, good to see Richard Maxwell get his plays in the sun. [pun]

  • James Blue

    I figured it would be Naftali/Spaulings/Abreu/Buchholz-heavy with Sanders there. Good filmmakers on that list… hopefully they’ll get their own room and not be limited to a screening.

    • http://www.artfagcity.com Paddy Johnson

      I’d like to think that the last biennial gave curators a guide for how to handle video. I thought they did a brilliant job with it. 

  • Justin Mata

    The big art market star community is insular as well

    • http://www.artfagcity.com Paddy Johnson

      I wonder if the biennial has ever been big market. When has anyone seen Jeff Koons in a Biennial?…actually the last one might have been…George Condo, Charles Ray….

      • lurk

        Unless you mean recently, Jeff Koons participated in, I believe, two Whitney Biennials, 1987 and ’89.   The ’89 biennial, if memory serves me, he shared a room with Christopher Wool.  Wool had giant text paintings and Koons showed the pink panther and bubbles.  I can’t find photos online, but I’ve seen them and the rooom look pretty wowee zowee.

        I initially remembered Cady Noland sharing the room with them, but she wasn’t included until ’91 so my memory has sort failed me, so if I got this all wrong I’m sorry, but the dates are correct.  

  • Guest

    i know for sure that georgia sagri is in

  • BobBlah

    I think it’s a bit of a stretch to call the last biennial “big market” the Ray’s were atypical and a single Condo. (Who at the time wasn’t really an auction superstar, and still shouldn’t be, but whatever) and don’t think you need big names to not be boring. But this list, wow it looks kind of boring. There are some people I like and I’m sure all of them are good at certain things that they do. But all together it sounds like a real snoozefest.

    • http://www.artfagcity.com Paddy Johnson

      Yeah, atypical flowers. That’s exactly the kind of fair that’s made just for the market. There were definitely a fair number of market performers; Richard Aldrich, Tauba Auerbach, Sarah Crowner, Maureen Gallace, Josephine Meckseper, R.H. Quaytman. You’re right though, it may still be a stretch to say that the last biennial was big market. For all those names there’s still artists like Sharon Hayes who so far as I can tell doesn’t make a ton off her performance work. 

      Anyway, there are more names of artists who I don’t know on this list than in 2010, so maybe that’s a good sign? It’s hard to say. 

      • BobBlah

        Huh? Yeah Charles Ray is mostly known for his iconic flower paintings eh? Not. Sure all those names you mentioned had a healthy market and in tune collectors may have already bought but seriously in -> 2009 <- before the biennial none of those names you mention were Koons' and lighting up the auction houses. Auerbach didn't even sell out her show the year before the biennial. That assertion is ridiculous.

        • http://www.artfagcity.com Paddy Johnson

          Are you looking for a fight or are we having a conversation? I tabled the idea that the 2010 biennial was market heavy, and when you said you didn’t think it was, I said you might be right. My point was mostly to show that I hadn’t wasn’t pulling the assertion out of thin air, not that you were wrong. 

          I never said he was mostly known for his flower paintings, only that they were likely appealing to collectors, which is different than saying he was mostly known for that work (though I acknowledge that collectors like to buy what artists are well known for). If you think what I’ve said is wrong then you tell me why. When you do so, try to restrain yourself from calling me stupid. The whole point of having a conversation is to share information that others might not have. If you can’t do that with a modicum of respect, go somewhere else. 

          • BobBlah

            I’ve reread this thread and I just don’t see how my response was any more contentious than yours. 

  • Sam

    Michael Clark is so hot, though.

  • Sandy Suchman

    Vincent Gallo ? ,   very very interesting .  looking forward

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