Review 1

Whitney Biennial 2010 review
Keith Hoyt

This years Whitney Biennial is a modest reflection of the current state of our economy. The show is contained in the Whitney's flagship space on Madison Avenue forgoing the use of auxiliary spaces at the Park Avenue Armory as it did during the 2008 Biennial. Frugality is the theme of the day. Galleries are sparsely hung and organized giving the space an feeling of loss and forgotten memory.
Not only is memory forgotten so is respect for the ability to fabricate, illustrate or render with precision, skill or passion. Much of the work is constructed if you could call it that without a shred of pride or dignity. Mediocrity is the content and apathy the latest skill set. When artists no longer have to answer to anyone and critics are waiting for an artist to cleverly dodge questions about process or content and applaud them for their creative litigations we the viewers have been cheated. Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayar are prankster curators poking fun at a public who wishes to be educated and experience culture outside of reality television and blockbuster cinema only to be granted entry to an asylum of mediocrity. All hope is not lost there are as always exceptions to the rule.
Nina Berman's series “Marine Wedding” 2006 capture the realities of loss in a format which is both shocking and sullen. Ty Ziegel, a twenty four year old marine at the time fell victim to a road side bomb leaving him terribly disfigured. The young marine underwent fifty operations including a procedure to replace his ears, nose and skull with a plastic dome to reconstruct his face which was completely disfigure by fire. Nina Berman photographed Ty candidly with out any direction or setup. Picture of Ty were taken at home and at a photo studio in preparation for his marriage to his high school sweetheart, they separated a few months later. More photographs in the series were taken later in 2008. One of the images is of Ty holding a AR-15 rifle perhaps indicating his acceptance of his loss and a need to hold onto something recognizable and familiar. An image of Ty receiving an injection in his forehead from a nurse or relative in his kitchen is one that goes beyond photojournalism. Despite the rigors of his surgeries and the pain of physical and emotional loss Ty seems to smile in most of his photographs revealing an optimism which is difficult to understand.
One of the most carefully observed pieces was Kelly Tribe's “H.M.” . Viewers sat and watched the eighteen plus minute dual analog projection in its entirety a phenomenon at a time when most work is viewed for less than thirty seconds. The subject of this documentary styled film is H.M. A victim of an bicycle accident resulting in severe head trauma and epilepsy. The narrator follows H.M.'s life as his seizures get progressively worse leading to experimental brain surgery. The outcome of the procedure is mixed the seizures are under control but H.M. Is left with the inability to remember anything after the surgery for more than twenty to thirty seconds. This is the amount of time that spaces the two identical loops of film apart when they are projected side by side. This gap is challenging us to remember the events displayed on screen. Asking us if our empathy for the H.M. is temporary or genuine.
Kate Gilmore's exemplifies frugality with her video documented performance “Standing Here”.
The artist costumed in carefully feminine garments and shoes appears to be attempting to escape a carefully constructed column. When first looking at this work the viewer immediately understands the objective of the piece and doesn't need to stay for the duration of the video to witness the result.
I stuck around to watch the process of the escape from the carefully constructed prison. By careful construction I mean the column was designed and built with escape in mind. Gilmore cautiously places her blows to the drywall making sure not to connect her punches with the framing which would have resulted with a fractured hand or toe. The framing was laid out with horizontally placed studs which formed a ladder up the interiors of the walls. The performance was supposed to be a struggle and her clothing was supposed to be an imposition on her escape. This was too well scripted to be a struggle where the only accomplishment was to turn off the camera recording the performance.
Nina Berman and Kelly Tribe were the only artists worthy of being involved in the biennial.
It is my understanding that the Whitney Biennials are to be a survey of the best work the United States has to offer. The other works selected by Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayar were a display of mediocrity and apathy. Perhaps the work was selected as a reflection of the economic, social, cultural and moral decay of America. Maybe Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayar are foreshadowing an age of apathy and discontent where responsibility is dissolved and creativity is measured by strength of our excuses.