"The 2026 Whitney Biennial introduces viewers to what I call ChatGPT art-facsimiles of facsimiles by makers who have little if any relationship to what they're putting out there, aside from its being a product in service of a career."
"Once you start to believe that production (or reproduction) alone justifies the work, you're in trouble, especially when there's little acknowledgment of the artists who paved the way for your kind of production."
"To stand in front of Mo Costello's dark, textured photographs in the Biennial is to see James Welling's profound pictures about darkness and texture from 1980 and 1981."
"To take in Aziz Hazara's piece 'Moon Sightings' (2024) is to see Wolfgang Tillmans's experiments in color and abstraction."
The 2026 Whitney Biennial showcases artists who frequently overlook the contributions of those who came before them. Curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, the exhibition features works that resemble AI-generated art, raising questions about authenticity and creativity. Historical references to postmodern art challenge the idea of originality, yet the lack of recognition for earlier artists is concerning. The works of contemporary artists like Mo Costello and Aziz Hazara echo the styles of past masters, highlighting a disconnect between new creations and their artistic lineage.
Read at The New Yorker
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