Installation image, Jack Whitten, Hauser & Wirth, New York
Photo Credit: Cincala Art Advisory
Hauser & Wirth presents Jack Whitten the first exhibition in New York devoted to the re-known abstract artist who has been working for well over fifty years. Surveying primarily newer works from 2015 forward, the exhibition unveils three main bodies of work. Beginning with the Quantum Wall and Portal series, Whitten expertly employs a tessellated technique that results in grand mosaic like paintings; these physical works are steeped in materiality yet also offer qualities of translucency and visual depth. Further in hangs a work from his ongoing Black Monolith project (aimed at honoring esteemed African Americans and here illustrated by an homage to Muhammad Ali), and finally ten lenticular graphite and wax on evolon works form the Third Entity, providing an overt lightness within the space.
Vertically positioned amidst these works stands Quantum Man (The Sixth Portal). This isolated sculpture from 2016 shares many of the traits found in the flat works and compels the viewer to experience yet another dimension of Whitten’s multi faceted practice.
Jack Whitten is on view through April 8, 2017.
-caa