First Look: The Whitney Biennial 2019

Art lovers, rejoice! The Whitney Biennial, one of America’s most renowned contemporary art fairs, is back. Every two years, the museum hosts a survey look at what’s shaping the U.S. creative world, searching for the artists who encapsulate where our country’s arts scene is going.

Curators Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley spent 17 weeks traveling around America, visiting 300 artists in their studios to get a sense of how they work. In the end, they selected 75 artists to bring their pieces—paintings, sculptures, photography, videos, dances…the list goes on—to the Biennial.

This month, the Refinery team went to the show’s press preview, getting a first look at the groundbreaking exhibition. Here’s what we saw (and loved):