Jack Whitten: The Messenger

This comprehensive monograph accompanies the first full retrospective to explore the groundbreaking art of Jack Whitten, one of the foremost American artists of the postwar period, working between the 1960s and 2010s in New York.Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018) changed the way we see art and society. He defied traditional boundaries between abstraction and representation, pictures and things, culture and technology, individual identity and global history. Raised under the "American Apartheid" of the segregated South in the 1940s, Whitten undertook an extraordinary journey in becoming an artist, convinced that by changing form, he could help change the world. Despite pressure from peers to create figurative art, he was a key proponent of creating abstract art that responded to social turmoil; to his own identity as a Black artist; and to see changes in technology and ecology. Over 50 extraordinary years, he invented new ways of painting through a series of artistic innovations and strategies that are the first of their kind.Published to accompany the first retrospective of Whitten's expansive practice, this richly illustrated catalogue presents the full range of his career across all media. An overview essay by curator Michelle Kuo and focused texts by acclaimed art historians, curators, conservators, and artists on individual works and series present new research and scholarship, advancing our understanding of the artist's work. A selection of the Whitten’s own writings and previously unpublished archival materials bring into focus an artist deeply engaged with social issues, race, world politics, music, and science, and shed light on his infinitely complex and ambitious explorations of process, materials, and form.