The Museum of Modern Art in New York is hosting "Jack Whitten: The Messenger," the largest survey ever mounted of the late abstract artist Jack Whitten, who died in 2018. The exhibition features 175 works spanning his sixty-year career, from early quasi-representational pieces to his innovative "slab" paintings made with a custom squeegee device and his later "tesserae" works that mimic glass tiles using acrylic paint. The show includes archival audio of Whitten discussing his creative process, which blended philosophy, craft, and science, and is curated by MoMA's Michelle Kuo, who knew Whitten personally.
This exhibition matters because it provides a comprehensive reassessment of Whitten's central role in twentieth-century art, challenging any surprise that a Black artist from the segregated South could achieve such prominence. Whitten's journey from Tuskegee Institute to Cooper Union, his involvement in civil rights demonstrations, and his friendships with major figures like Willem de Kooning and John Coltrane underscore his unique position at the intersection of art, science, and social justice. The show's emphasis on the somatic experience of abstraction, as noted by artist Julie Mehretu, affirms Whitten's enduring influence on contemporary painting and his innovative techniques that remain relevant today.