Inheritance

June 28, 2023–Feb 4, 2024

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Ancestral Memory

5

The relatively short span of an individual human life exists in parallel with the inheritance of ancestral memory across generations. Focusing primarily on the global South and Indigenous communities across the world, where the dual forces of colonialism and imperialism have often disrupted cultural practices and continuity across generations, the works in this gallery tap into this deeper, and perhaps nonlinear, sense of time, looking at some of the origins of culture and belief through geography, history, and ideology. Whether examining the retention of African iconographies and artistic traditions in diasporic communities, goddess archetypes, or Indigenous creation myths and mythological figures from the Americas, these artists consider their continued presence and impact in the contemporary world. The works on view here collectively tell a story of a resilient and shared human past, which reverberates into the present.

  • At the center of a kaleidoscopic seascape butterflying into mirrored sides, a loon spreads its wings below a red exit sign, infinity symbol, animal and human silhouettes, and stylized text.
    At the center of a kaleidoscopic seascape butterflying into mirrored sides, a loon spreads its wings below a red exit sign, infinity symbol, animal and human silhouettes, and stylized text.

    Andrea Carlson, Red Exit, 2020. Oil, watercolor, opaque watercolor, ink, acrylic, colored pencil, ball-point pen, fiber-tipped pen, and graphite pencil on paper, sixty sheets, 115 × 183 in. (292.1 × 464.8 cm) overall. Collection of the artist; courtesy Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis. Photograph by Rik Sferra

  • A room with wood walls, file cabinets, and a sculpture of a human.
    A room with wood walls, file cabinets, and a sculpture of a human.

    David Hartt, Archive at The Johnson Publishing Company Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois, 2011, printed 2013. Inkjet print mounted on aluminum, with frame, overall: 59 1/4 × 79 × 2 in. (150.5 × 200.7 × 5.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2014.11a-b. © David Hartt

  • A white wall with terracotta inscribed tiles on opposite corners. In the center are two orange hands and one orange foot.
    A white wall with terracotta inscribed tiles on opposite corners. In the center are two orange hands and one orange foot.

    Clarissa Tossin, A cycle of time we don't understand (reversed, invented, and rearranged), 2017. Silicone, walnut, faux terracotta (dyed plaster), dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2019.35a-e. © Clarissa Tossin

  • Abstract wooden sculpture resembling a human figure with arms raised and a circular hole at the center.
    Abstract wooden sculpture resembling a human figure with arms raised and a circular hole at the center.

    Mary Beth Edelson, Shell Venus, 1974–1975. Acrylic and housepaint on plywood, overall: 96 × 48 5/16 in. (243.8 × 122.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Director's Discretionary Fund 2020.1. © Mary Beth Edelson, courtesy David Lewis, New York

  • Intricately decorated African sculpture with beaded patterns and textile fragments on a gray background.
    Intricately decorated African sculpture with beaded patterns and textile fragments on a gray background.

    John Outterbridge, The Elder, Ethnic Heritage Series, 1971–1972. Wooden hat forms, fabric, wooden beads, twine, metal, paint, and human hair, overall: 28 1/4 × 11 7/8 × 11 3/8 in. (71.8 × 30.2 × 28.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from David Cancel and an anonymous donor 2022.189. © Courtesy the Estate of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York

  • A bronze sculpture that splits apart at the top into branches.
    A bronze sculpture that splits apart at the top into branches.

    Thaddeus Mosley, Repetitive Reference, 2020. Bronze, 86 x 50 x 26 in. (218.4 x 127 x 66 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Beth Rudin DeWoody. © Thaddeus Mosley. Image courtesy the artist and Karma, 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.