The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has opened "Jack Whitten: The Messenger," a major posthumous retrospective featuring nearly 200 objects, mostly paintings, by the late artist Jack Whitten. Curated by MoMA's curator at large Michelle Kuo, the exhibition occupies MoMA's top-floor gallery and is arranged largely chronologically, highlighting Whitten's experimental techniques such as using dried acrylic tesserae and extruding paint through screens. The show includes early works from the 1960s and later mosaic compositions, offering a comprehensive view of his career.
This retrospective matters because it positions Whitten among the highest order of artists, comparable to recent surveys of Gerhard Richter and Jasper Johns at peer New York institutions. Whitten, who died in 2018, was a boundlessly inventive artist who transformed the canvas into a site of actions and operations, moving beyond traditional brushes. The exhibition not only celebrates his legacy but also provides a reassuring beacon for MoMA's sprawling collection, demonstrating the enduring power of a well-curated career survey.