Whitney ISP S Emsaki crude education (still) 1908-ongoing. Courtesy of the artist, scaled.

ISP 23/24 Curatorial exhibition: Not Everything is Given
ISP
745 Washington St
NYC

and right across the street

ISP 23/24 Studio exhibition: At Odds With (curated by Juana Berrio)
Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune St
NYC

Artist Reception and Opening for both shows: May 9, 2024 6pm – 8pm

Show dates run concurrently: May 9 – May 24, 2024
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 1pm – 6pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday

Symposium: Sunday May 19, 2024

The Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program (ISP) marks the culmination of the 2023–24 academic year with a symposium at the Whitney on Sunday, May 19, and two exhibitions at the ISP and Westbeth Gallery, May 9–24. These presentations showcase the work of the 2023–24 ISP cohort across three areas of concentration: Critical Studies Program, Curatorial Program, and Studio Program. The presentation at the ISP marks the first exhibition in the ISP’s new permanent home at the renovated former studio and home of artist Roy Lichtenstein.

Symposium: Sunday May 19, 2024
The 2023–24 Helena Rubinstein Critical Studies Fellows will present their current research at the annual ISP Critical Studies Symposium on Sunday, May 19 from 2–7 pm in the Museum’s Susan and John Hess Family Theater. The fellows, Alex Fialho, Sarah Richter, Blake Oetting, Geelia Ronkina, Anamaría Garzón Mantilla, and Olivia McCall, will share short papers that address critical topics in contemporary culture. The fellows will be joined in conversation by poet and artist Pamela Sneed, Columbia University; Claire Bishop, professor of art history at CUNY Graduate Center; and Rachel Price, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Princeton University. The symposium will be live streamed with live captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided. The event is free and registration is recommended.

The Curatorial Studies Program exhibition, Not Everything Is Given, examines the aspirations of language and disturbs the expectations from artworks and artists to “demonstrate,” “elucidate,” or “bear witness to” the fraught conditions of our world.The exhibition is curated by the 2023–24 Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellows: Ella den Elzen, Alper Turan, Gervais Marsh, and Carlota Ortiz Monasterio. The exhibition will be on view May 9–24 at the ISP, located at 745 Washington St, New York, NY 10014. An opening reception for Not Everything Is Given will be held at the ISP on Thursday, May 9 from 6–8 pm.

The Studio Program exhibition, At Odds With, presents recent work by the 2023–24 Elaine G. Weitzen Studio Program Fellows: S Emsaki, Kimi Hanauer, sadé powell, Albert Samreth, Shobun Baile, Mae Howard, Alison Nguyen, Elliot Reed, Omolola Ajao, José De Sancristóbal, Daniel Ramos, tarah douglas, Kearra Amaya Gopee, Emily Velez Nelms, and Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, and Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow Ella den Elzen. Curated by Juana Berrío, the exhibition will be on view May 9–24 at Westbeth Gallery, a nonprofit fine arts gallery located across the street from the ISP at 55 Bethune St, New York, NY 10014. An opening reception for At Odds With will be held at Westbeth Gallery on Thursday, May 9 from 6–8 pm.

The Independent Study Program symposium, exhibitions, and opening events are all free and open to the public. The hours for the ISP Curatorial Studies Program and Studio Program exhibitions are Wednesday–Sunday, 1–6 pm; closed Monday and Tuesday. For full details and additional information on the ISP, please visit whitney.org/isp.

PROGRAM SUPPORT
Generous support for the Independent Study Program is provided by Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo, the Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, and Diane and Robert Moss.

Significant support is provided by The Capital Group Charitable Foundation, Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa, Gloria H. Spivak, and the Whitney Contemporaries through their annual Art Party benefit.

ABOUT THE ISP
The Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art consists of three interrelated areas of study: the Studio Program, Curatorial Program, and Critical Studies Program. The ISP provides a setting where students pursuing art practice, curatorial work, art historical scholarship, and critical writing engage in ongoing discussions and debates that examine the historical, social, and intellectual conditions of artistic production. The program encourages the theoretical and critical study of the practices, institutions, and discourses that constitute the field of culture. Each academic year fifteen students are selected to participate in the Studio Program, four in the Curatorial Program, and six in the Critical Studies Program. Curatorial and critical studies students are designated as Helena Rubinstein Fellows in recognition of the substantial support provided to the program by the Helena Rubinstein Foundation. The program begins in early September and concludes at the end of May. Many participants are enrolled at universities and art schools and may receive academic credit for their participation, while others have recently completed their formal studies.

ABOUT THE WHITNEY
The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), houses the foremost collection of American art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Mrs. Whitney, an early and ardent supporter of modern American art, nurtured groundbreaking artists when audiences were still largely preoccupied with the Old Masters. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has been championing the most innovative art of the United States for ninety years. The core of the Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists, the Whitney has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.
Whitney Museum Land Acknowledgment

The Whitney is located in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape. The name Manhattan comes from their word Mannahatta, meaning “island of many hills.” The Museum’s current site is close to land that was a Lenape fishing and planting site called Sapponckanikan (“tobacco field”). The Whitney acknowledges the displacement of this region’s original inhabitants and the Lenape diaspora that exists today.

As a museum of American art in a city with vital and diverse communities of Indigenous people, the Whitney recognizes the historical exclusion of Indigenous artists from its collection and program. The Museum is committed to addressing these erasures and honoring the perspectives of Indigenous artists and communities as we work for a more equitable future. To read more about the Museum’s Land Acknowledgement, visit the Museum’s website.

Image credit:
S Emsaki, crude education (still), 1908–ongoing, courtesy of the artist

PRESS CONTACT

For press materials and image requests, please visit whitney.org/press or contact:

Emma LeHocky, Senior Publicist
Whitney Museum of American Art
(212) 671-1844
Emma_LeHocky@whitney.orgpressoffice@whitney.org
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