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Art 41 Basel

June 16 – 20, 2010

Art 41 Basel, 2010

Art 41 Basel, 2010
Booth installation

Art 41 Basel, 2010

Art 41 Basel, 2010
Booth installation (various)

Art 41 Basel, 2010

Art 41 Basel, 2010
Booth installation (various)

Art 41 Basel, 2010

Art 41 Basel, 2010
Booth installation (various)

Jack Whitten, Martin Luther King's Garden (1968)

Jack Whitten

Martin Luther King's Garden (1968)
Oil on canvas
51.63h x 41.5w in (131.14h x 105.41w cm)

Jack Whitten, Siberian Salt Grinder (1974)

Jack Whitten

Siberian Salt Grinder (1974)
Acrylic on canvas
80h x 50w in (203.2h x 127w cm)

Jack Whitten, Untitled (1970)

Jack Whitten

Untitled (1970)
Acrylic on linen
25.63h x 23.75w in (65.1h x 60.33w cm)

Jack Whitten, Chinese Doorway (1974)

Jack Whitten

Chinese Doorway (1974)
Acrylic on canvas
89.5h x 43.25w in (227.33h x 109.86w cm)

Jack Whitten, Omikron I (1977)

Jack Whitten

Omikron I (1977)
Acrylic on canvas
52h x 64w in (132.08h x 162.56w cm)

Jack Whitten, Warrior River Valley (1968)

Jack Whitten

Warrior River Valley (1968)
Oil on canvas
18h x 23.13w in (45.72h x 58.75w cm)

Jack Whitten, Chinese Sincerity (1974)

Jack Whitten

Chinese Sincerity (1974)
Acrylic on canvas
67.5h x 40w in (171.45h x 101.6w cm)

Jack Whitten, Third Testing (Slab) (1972)

Jack Whitten

Third Testing (Slab) (1972)
Acrylic on Canvas
34.75h x 35.13w in (88.27h x 89.23w cm)

Jack Whitten, DNA II (1979)

Jack Whitten

DNA II (1979)
Acrylic on canvas
42h x 42w in (106.68h x 106.68w cm)

Jack Whitten, Southern Exposure (1986)

Jack Whitten

Southern Exposure (1986)
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 50w in (101.6h x 127w cm)

Jack Whitten, Mask of God II (For Joseph Campbell) (1987)

Jack Whitten

Mask of God II (For Joseph Campbell) (1987)
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 31w in (101.6h x 78.74w cm)

Jack Whitten, Data I (1991)

Jack Whitten

Data I (1991)
Acrylic on canvas
30h x 30w in (76.2h x 76.2w cm)

Jack Whitten, E-Stamp II (The Black Butterfly: For Bobby Short) (2007)

Jack Whitten

E-Stamp II (The Black Butterfly: For Bobby Short) (2007)
Acrylic on canvas
48h x 48w in (121.92h x 121.92w cm)

Jack Whitten, Slip Zone (1971)

Jack Whitten

Slip Zone (1971)
Acrylic on canvas
39.13h x 39.25w in (99.39h x 99.7w cm)

Jack Whitten, Funny Landscape III (1968)

Jack Whitten

Funny Landscape III (1968)
Oil on canvas
18h x 23w in (45.72h x 58.42w cm)

Jack Whitten, Broken Space II (1974)

Jack Whitten

Broken Space II (1974)
Toner on paper
22h x 17w in (55.88h x 43.18w cm)

Jack Whitten, Organic Series #7 (1974)

Jack Whitten

Organic Series #7 (1974)
Toner on paper
11h x 15w in (27.94h x 38.1w cm)

Jack Whitten, Organic Series #5 (1974)

Jack Whitten

Organic Series #5 (1974)
Toner on paper
11h x 15w in (27.94h x 38.1w cm)

Jack Whitten, The Tenth Iceberg #1 (1972)

Jack Whitten

The Tenth Iceberg #1 (1972)
Pastel on paper
13h x 16w in (33.02h x 40.64w cm)

Jack Whitten, The Tenth Iceberg #6 (1972)

Jack Whitten

The Tenth Iceberg #6 (1972)
Pastel on paper
13h x 16w in (33.02h x 40.64w cm)

Jack Whitten, The Tenth Iceberg #2 (1972)

Jack Whitten

The Tenth Iceberg #2 (1972)
Pastel on paper
13h x 16w in (33.02h x 40.64w cm)

Jack Whitten, Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #10 (1975)

Jack Whitten

Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #10 (1975)
Pastel on paper
9.5h x 13w in (24.13h x 33.02w cm)

Jack Whitten, Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #11 (1975)

Jack Whitten

Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #11 (1975)
Pastel on paper
9.5h x 13w in (24.13h x 33.02w cm)

Jack Whitten, Study for Greek Alphabet Series #5 (1977)

Jack Whitten

Study for Greek Alphabet Series #5 (1977)
Acrylic on paper
20h x 26w in (50.8h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Storm Over Yonder (1968)

Jack Whitten

Storm Over Yonder (1968)
Pastel and oil on paper
17h x 22.38w in (43.18h x 56.85w cm)

Jack Whitten, Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #3 (1978)

Jack Whitten

Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #3 (1978)
Pastel on paper
19h x 26w in (48.26h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #6 (1975)

Jack Whitten

Study for Lapsang and Chinese Sincerity #6 (1975)
Pastel on paper
19h x 26w in (48.26h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Psychic Square Revisited #1 (1978)

Jack Whitten

Psychic Square Revisited #1 (1978)
Acrylic on paper
18h x 18w in (45.72h x 45.72w cm)

Jack Whitten, Psychic Square Revisited #2 (1977)

Jack Whitten

Psychic Square Revisited #2 (1977)
Acrylic on paper
18h x 18w in (45.72h x 45.72w cm)

Jack Whitten, Untitled Study (1972)

Jack Whitten

Untitled Study (1972)
Pastel and powdered pigment on paper
20h x 26w in (50.8h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Untitled Study (1972)

Jack Whitten

Untitled Study (1972)
Pastel and powdered pigment on paper
20h x 26w in (50.8h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Untitled Study #2 (1972)

Jack Whitten

Untitled Study #2 (1972)
Pastel and powdered pigment on paper
20h x 26w in (50.8h x 66.04w cm)

Jack Whitten, Taf II (1978)

Jack Whitten

Taf II (1978)
Acrylic on canvas
40.13h x 68.13w in (101.93h x 173.05w cm)

Press Release

Art 41 Basel
Feature Sector, Booth G9
Messe Basel, Hall 1
Basel, Switzerland

Alexander Gray Associates presented a micro-survey of New York-based, African-American abstract painter, Jack Whitten. Exhibited were paintings and works on paper spanning forty years, presenting a range of material inventions and social content in Whittenʼs career. Notable are paintings from the 1970s, including works from series in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Cleveland Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Whittenʼs experiments with painting began in the 1960s, when inspired by Abstract Expressionism, he created dynamic works noted for their raucous colors and density of gesture—emotionally complex meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the Civil Rights Movement; and the Vietnam War. In 2007, MoMA/PS1 exhibited these paintings, including Martin Luther Kingʼs Garden (1968) for the first time since his 1968 show at the Alan Stone Gallery in New York, with an epic memorial painting, 9.11.01 (2006).

In the 1970s, Whittenʼs experimentation turned to abstraction, when he developed new methods of painting, in which brushstroke was removed from the making of the work; instead, paint and canvas were processed, using large troughs to hold paint, and dragging canvas across, with squeegees, rakes, and Afro combs to create surface texture, line, and voids. Such works, including Chinese Doorway (1974) were the subject of a 1974 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum, curated by the late Marcia Tucker. Also in Basel, the gallery is proud to exhibit Siberian Salt Grinder (1974) a painting spotlighted in the landmark exhibition High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting 1967-1975, organized by Independent Curators International (curated by Katy Seigel) that completed its international tour in 2008. Works on paper and examples of paintings from Greek Alphabet series of the late 1970s will also be on hand.

The 1980s saw further experimentation with paint as a metaphor for skin, with Whitten “casting” surfaces and textures with acrylic paints and compounds. In works such as Southern Exposure (1986), Whitten combines gesture with aspects of sculpture and collage, at a time when narrative-based and didactic work was de rigeur for Black artists. In the 1990s and 2000s, Whittenʼs experiments with paint as a medium moved further towards sculpture, as paint compounds were transformed into mosaic-like tiles and were applied to canvases, referencing ancient architecture and murals. In this work, and into the current work, memorial and personae became sources for content, as works paid homage to celebrated figures and close friends of the artist, such as the painting E-Stamp II (The Black Butterfly: For Bobby Short) (2007).

Along with the galleryʼs 2007 and 2009 exhibitions, Whittenʼs work enjoys focused critical reevaluation from curators, critics, and art historians. In 2008, the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center presented a survey exhibition which specifically explored the memorial content of Whittenʼs ongoing work. Whittenʼs work has been included in landmark exhibitions, including Contemporary Black Artists in America at the Whitney Museum (1971), Energy/Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction 1964–1980 at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2006). His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland OH; and the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.


About Art 41 Basel

The world's premier international art show for Modern and contemporary works, Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 2,500 artists, ranging from the great masters of Modern art to the latest generation of emerging stars, are represented in the show's multiple sections. The exhibition includes the highest-quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works.

With its world-class museums, outdoor sculptures, theaters, concert halls, idyllic medieval old town and new buildings by leading architects, Basel ranks as a culture capital, and that cultural richness helps put the Art Basel week on the agenda for art lovers from all over the globe. During Art Basel, a fascinating atmosphere fills this traditional city, as the international art show is reinforced with exhibitions and events all over the region.