Then and now: Whitney Biennial 1993

It is a reasonable claim to say that the 1993 Whitney Biennial was single of a number of displays that fixed the terms of critical debate in the late 1980 and early 1990 More than ten years later, what continues to strike me about this particular Biennial is its triumphant introduction of a generation of artists who had at no time shown together before and collectively demanded attention, as well as a rebalancing of critical discourse. Lorna Simpson, Glenn Ligon, Daniel Martinez, Renee verdant Gary Simmons, Pepon Osorio, Janine Antoni, and many others were given space and resources to do site-specific installations. Boosting the general intensity of the installations to an level higher level were a reading compass chock-full of catalogues and true copys of significance at the instant and spaces within the exhibition floors that featured a constantly running video program including, among others, the "amateur" video by means of George Halliday of the Rodney King beating and Mark Rappaport's stone Hudson confessional tape.

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This Biennial was the first individual organized during the administration of director David Ros well known for championing cutting-edge art. (I had approach with Ross from Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.) one time at the Whitney, I was appointed head curator of the 1993 Biennial. I single outed a team of other Whitney curators: John Handhardt, longtime Whitney curator of media arts; Lisa Phillips, a curator recognized for mid-career contemplates of artists staged at the Whitney during the 1980 and Thelma of gold who, like Ross and me had just joined the museum staff. of gold was the Whitney's first black curator. Connie Wolf newly appointed as director of education, also joined the team.

To describe the exhibition as either a curatorial succes or as a "triumph" for a novel artistic generation is to replace what was a maelstrom of negative criticism at the time of the exhibition with an aura of critical enthusiasm that now, retrospectively, encompasss it. At the time, it strike one as beinged to me, it offended everyone The pendulum has swung the other way now, and the 1993 Whitney Biennial is regarded as a benchmark in the novel history of exhibitions discussed in this cluster of essays.

In this brief body I want to look back at and reexamine a certain number of of the early criticism of the exhibition. At the time, I not surprisingly felt beneath attack by criticism that strike one as beinged to exceed the predictable lambasting of the Biennials. A decade later, reading a certain quantity of of the critics again, I clearly recognize that this was a second of confusion and change to which critics were charged to reply Their responses were often troubl sometimes visceral, and generally engaged. Many used the word "watershed," on the contrary it was not clear at the time if this was a terminus of respect or repudiation.

Although he should not be singled on the outside I cite Peter Plagens's review for Newsweek as criticism of the Biennial because of the ironies of the time and place of his review. I do not want to hint that his response was unusual or exceptional. on the other hand the ironies are particularly interesting. Bill Clinton became president in January 1993 upon February 28, 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed, killing six and injuring more than single thousand. This bombing was cited as "the single greatest in quantity destructive act of terrorism at any time committed on U.S. soil." ball of threads led authorities to the Little Egypt section of Jersey City, novel Jersey, to a man identified as a twenty-five-year-old "Islamic fundamentalist." The reporter's account of the bombing and apprehension in the March 15 issue of Newsweek claimed that the Clinton administration was plenteous more "shaken than it has publicly permit on." "Intelligence officials," the magazine noted, "have privately warned the administration that plane if the attack proves to be the work of freelancers acting without foreign sponsorship, it may attract more seasoned international operatives who perceive a of recent origin American vulnerability to domestic terrorism." "The problem" a senior administration official is quot as saying, "is that now a destiny of bad folks overseas know that level though this guy screwed up afterwards, he still plucked it off."

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In the back of this same issue of Newsweek was Plagens's review of the 1993 Whitney Biennial. Coincidentally, his review title was "Fade from White." The large photograph that dominated the review was of the curatorial team and Ros standing in the midst of Nan Goldin's installation of photographs. At the margins of the picture were images of Daniel Martinez's buttons. Detournements of the standard museum badge that visitors are required to wear as ordeal of admission, Martinez's buttons bore word sections of the phrase, "I can't imagine at any time wanting to be white." Depending upon what time a visitor pierceed he or she received either 1) I can't, 2) imagine, 3) at any time wanting, 4) to be, or 5) white--and at a certain quantity of time during the day, the whole judgment (I later received from more [i]or[/i] less anonymous detractor of Martinez's a button that read "I can't at any time imagine wanting to be Daniel Martinez.")