Inheritance

June 28, 2023–Feb 4, 2024

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Homage

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Artists have always looked to their predecessors for inspiration, comparison, or context, and in homage or critique (or both). Consciously or not, artists are the inheritors of past generations of makers across time and space. The works in this gallery make this continuity explicit, looking to influential art historical and political movements of the twentieth century—Surrealism, industrial design, the 1930s labor movement, social documentary photography, hard-edge painting, and Minimalism—and updating them through shifts in medium, scale, and intent.

  • A bright red quarter-circle canvas mounted on a white wall.
    A bright red quarter-circle canvas mounted on a white wall.

    Carissa Rodriguez, Not Yet Titled (Red Curve), 2015. Cast salt, overall: 72 5/8 × 90 1/8 × 2 5/16 in. (184.5 × 228.9 × 5.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Avo Samuelian and Hector Manuel Gonzalez 2019.430. © Carissa Rodriguez

  • A man lying down and looking at the camera holding a fan.
    A man lying down and looking at the camera holding a fan.

    John Edmonds, Tête d'Homme, 2018. Inkjet print, 23 5/8 × 29 9/16 in. (60 × 75.1 cm). Edition 3/3. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Henry Nias Foundation 2020.38. © John Edmonds

  • A shiny, metallic sculpture of a humanoid figure with a sword, displayed on a white pedestal against a grey background.
    A shiny, metallic sculpture of a humanoid figure with a sword, displayed on a white pedestal against a grey background.

    Hank Willis Thomas, Strike, 2018. Stainless steel, overall: 32 3/4 × 32 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (83.2 × 81.9 × 18.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2019.324. © Hank Willis Thomas

  • A photograph of a soldier in black and white behind shifting plywood pieces of red and black.
    A photograph of a soldier in black and white behind shifting plywood pieces of red and black.

    Joan Wallace, Bob's your Uncle, 1991. Acrylic on canvas, plywood, and photograph: closed, 96 × 60 × 11 3/8 in. (243.8 × 152.4 × 28.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Robert Shiffler. © Joan Wallace. Image courtesy the artist and Elizabeth Dee, New York

  • A black and white photograph of a woman looking into the camera.
    A black and white photograph of a woman looking into the camera.

    Sherrie Levine, After Walker Evans: 4, 1981. Gelatin silver print, sheet: 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm) Image: 9 7/16 × 7 7/16 in. (24 × 18.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 96.2. © 1981 Sherrie Levine ©Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Courtesy paula Cooper Gallery, New York

  • A photograph of a soldier in black and white behind shifting plywood pieces of red and black.
    A photograph of a soldier in black and white behind shifting plywood pieces of red and black.

    Joan Wallace, Bob's your Uncle, 1991. Acrylic on canvas, plywood, and photograph: closed, 96 × 60 × 11 3/8 in. (243.8 × 152.4 × 28.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Robert Shiffler. © Joan Wallace. Image courtesy the artist and Elizabeth Dee, New York

Artists

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whathappensontheship.space/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.