WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2008
Press Release
The 2008 Whitney Biennial opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, on March 6, and runs through June 1, 2008. Since its founding in 1932, the Biennial has evolved into the Whitney's signature exhibition as well as the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States today.
For the first time, the Whitney is collaborating with the non-profit organization Art Production Fund (APF), to provide the Biennial with a second venue in the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building, at Park Avenue and 67th Street. The Armory will be the setting for a series of groundbreaking performances, temporary installations, events, and other programs, all free to the public, by Biennial artists from March 4 to March 23, creating an exciting opportunity to present works that could not be accommodated within the Whitney's walls and remaining true to the fluid, interactive way in which these works were conceived. The Armory collaboration presents a spatially and temporally condensed version of the performance program that traditionally accompanies the Biennial but by this unprecedented consolidation magnifies the exhibitionʼs structure and concepts overall.
Donna De Salvo, Chief Curator and Associate Director for Programs noted, "The Biennial is a laboratory, a way of 'taking the temperature' of what is happening now and putting it on view. It influences our thinking on multiple levels and, for the Whitney, translates directly into the choices we make about our exhibitions and collections. In dealing with the art of the present, there are no easy assessments, only multiple points of entry. For the Whitney, and for our public, we hope the Biennial is one way in."
Art Production Fund (APF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Projects include: SHOW, Vanessa Beecroft, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1998; FISCHERSPOONER: LA, performance, 2001; Keith + Farrah, collaborative exhibition by Keith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum, 2003; PLAN B, Rudolf Stingel summer 2004, Grand Central's Vanderbilt Hall and The Walker Art Center; Prada Marfa, Elmgreen & Dragset, Valentine, TX, 2005, permanent; Greeting Card, Aaron Young, Park Avenue Armory, 2007. Future projects include works by Tim Noble & Sue Webster and Terence Koh. APF: Co-Founders : Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen, Director of Operations: Casey Fremont.
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