
Epsilon Group I, 1976
Acrylic on Canvas
42h x 42w in (106.68h x 106.68w cm)
Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art
April’s Shark (1974)
Acrylic on Canvas
72h x 52w in (182.9h x 132.1w cm)
Byzantine Quartet (For Stephen Antonakos) (2013)
Acrylic on canvas
45h x 87w in (114.3h x 220.98w cm)
Virgin Space (Bend Circle) (2013)
Acrylic on canvas
64h x 64w x 2.5d in (162.56h x 162.56w x 6.35d cm)
Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1974)
Acrylic on canvas
88.3h x 50.5w in (224.3h x 128.3w cm)
Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Transmission ‘A’ #7 (2013)
Toner on paper
21h x 19w in (53.34h x 48.26w cm)
9–11–01 (2006)
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
120h x 240w in (304.8h x 609.6w cm)
Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison) (1994)
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas; 58h x 52w in (147.32h x 132.08w cm)
Collection Brooklyn Museum, NY
Southern Exposure (1986)
Acrylic on canvas; 40h x 50w in (101.6h x 127w cm)
Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI
Siberian Salt Grinder (1974)
Acrylic on canvas; 80h x 50w in (203.2h x 127w cm)
Collection Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Red, Black, Green (1979-80)
Acrylic on canvas
64h x 64w in (162.56h x 162.56w cm)
Epsilon Group 1 (1976)
Acrylic on canvas; 42h x 42w in (106.68h x 106.68w cm)
Collection Dallas Museum of Art, TX
Study for Omalos #2 (1974)
Toner on paper; 25.8h x 19w in (65.53h x 48.26w cm)
Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
USA Oracle (Assassination of M.L. King) (1968)
Oil on canvas
55.75h x 50w in (141.6h x 127w cm)
Please contact the Gallery for more information.
Jack Whitten was represented by Alexander Gray Associates 2007-2015.
Jack Whitten (b.1939) began his earliest experiments in painting during the 1960s by creating dynamic works inspired by Abstract Expressionism. Born and raised in Bessemer, Alabama, he moved to New York City in 1960 to attend The Cooper Union. Noted for raucous colors and density of gesture combined with topical content, his artwork of this period manifests emotionally complex meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War.
Experimentation turned to abstraction for Whitten in the 1970s; a new method of painting developed, one that resonates more closely with photography. Gesture is removed from the making of the work; the paint and canvas are “processed”, produced from large troughs of paint dragged across the canvas with tools including squeegees, rakes, and Afro combs. This process yields palpable surface texture, line, and void.
Paint became a metaphor for skin during the 1980s when Whitten experimented with “casting” acrylic paints and compounds to create new surfaces and textures. In contrast to the narrative-based and didactic work made by many African-American artists during this period, Whitten’s artworks reintroduce gesture with aspects of sculpture and collage.
Since the 1990s, Whitten’s experiments with paint as a medium have progressed further towards sculpture, beginning with transforming paint compounds into tiles, and applying them to the canvas as mosaics. These artworks allude to ancient architecture and murals, and serve as both an homage to and memorial of celebrated public figures and intimate friends. Recently, Whitten has repurposed the gamut of techniques he developed over the decades to deepen his engagement with art history, re-contextualizing his experimentations to achieve innovative new surfaces, structures, and symbols.
A retrospective on Whitten’s 50-year long career is currently on view at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN that travelled from the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH. The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego presented Whitten’s first retrospective Jack Whitten: Five Decades of Painting in September 2014. His work has been exhibited in the 1969 and 1972 Whitney Annuals at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and a landmark 1974 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Recently, Whitten’s work as been featured at the Brooklyn Museum (2014); 55th Venice Biennale, Italy (2013); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2014); Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (2014); Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA (2013); Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA (2012); Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, GA (2008); MoMA PS1, New York (2007); and Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2006); among others. His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Dallas Museum of Art, TX; Birmingham Museum of Art, AL; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; and the Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI; among others. Whitten received an Honorary Doctorate from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2014.