Inheritance

June 28, 2023–Feb 4, 2024

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Ground Beneath Our Feet

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The works in this gallery touch on some of the painful and difficult legacies that have shaped the United States on a societal level, specifically the enslavement of Africans and all it has engendered, from racial violence and segregation to disproportionate incarceration and overpolicing to the significant health and economic disparities experienced by Black people and other communities of color. These inheritances are framed by the included artists as all-permeating; literally and figuratively, they are the ground beneath our feet. Yet no experience is monolithic, and artists’ voices and perspectives are as varied as their visual languages. These works are clear about the flawed legacies of this nation, but also sharply attuned to the inherent power of naming injustice and the ways in which historically oppressed people have harnessed that power to forge new realities for themselves and their communities.

  • Five radios in a row on a wall with a speaker beside.
    Five radios in a row on a wall with a speaker beside.

    Cameron Rowland, Life and Property, 2021. 5 UHF radios, antenna, recording device, speaker, and webpage, overall: 70 × 27 1/4 × 8 3/4 in. (177.8 × 69.2 × 22.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2022.60a-i. © Cameron Rowland

  • The silhouettes of two people facing each other against a blue background.
    The silhouettes of two people facing each other against a blue background.

    Kara Walker, still from " ...calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea. I was transported.", 2007. Five channel video installation, color, sound, 11 min. looped. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; joint purchase with the Hammer Museum, with funds from the Film, Video, and New Media Committee 2010.17. © Kara Walker. Image courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co, N.Y.

  • A monument of a man riding a horse behind a translucent banner hung between two columns on a grassy street island
    A monument of a man riding a horse behind a translucent banner hung between two columns on a grassy street island

    An-My Lê, Monument, General P.G.T. Beauregard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, from the series The Silent General, 2015-2017. Inkjet print, 39 1/4 × 55 13/16 in. (99.7 × 141.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2018.86. © An-My Lê, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

  • A photograph of a small wooden house that is very dilapidated.
    A photograph of a small wooden house that is very dilapidated.

    Beverly Buchanan, Red Creek Barbecue, c. 1990–2005. Chromogenic print, sheet: 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm) Image: 6 7/16 × 9 11/16 in. (16.4 × 24.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2021.37. © Estate of Beverly Buchanan, courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York

  • Many materials such as dresses, t-shirts, twigs, etc. create the image of a road leading to a sun.
    Many materials such as dresses, t-shirts, twigs, etc. create the image of a road leading to a sun.

    Kevin Beasley, The Road, 2019. Polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, Virginia soil, Virginia twigs, Virginia pine needles, housedresses, kaftans, T-shirts, du-rags, altered housedresses, altered kaftans, altered T-shirts, altered garments, altered tires, scarf, guinea fowl feathers, down feathers, copper, jewelry, shoelaces, mobile phone, burlap satchel, windshield wipers, altered African fabrics, socks, Timberland boots, aluminum, steel, 96 × 120 × 10 in. (243.8 × 304.8 × 25.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee in memory of Ron Burrell 2021.59. © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York. Photograph by Jason Wyche

  • People dressed in white perform manual labor on a hilly terrain with armed guards looking on.
    People dressed in white perform manual labor on a hilly terrain with armed guards looking on.

    Kambui Olujimi, Hart Island Crew, 2020. Watercolor, ink, and graphite pencil on paper, sheet: 23 1/2 × 28 1/8 in. (59.7 × 71.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Drawing and Print Committee 2021.72. © Kambui Olujimi

  • A map of the united states in green and red with violent historic events written across each state.
    A map of the united states in green and red with violent historic events written across each state.

    Faith Ringgold, United States of Attica, 1971. Offset lithograph, 21 3/8 × 27 3/16 in. (54.3 × 69.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of ACA Galleries in honor of Faith Ringgold 2017.163. © 2023 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), 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.