The 71 Artists in this Year’s Whitney Biennale

The Whitney Museum of American Art reveals a diverse lineup of 69 artists and two collectives for the 81st edition of its landmark Biennale. Opening on March 20, the exhibition, titled “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” showcases the most relevant works and ideas of our time in the longest-running survey of American art ever.

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Co-organized by Whitney curators Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli, “Even Better Than the Real Thing” is a thematic presentation on what we perceive to be real and what we do not. The group show challenges our notions of identity, stewardship, and embodiment at a time when society finds itself at an inflection point. “We sought to create an exhibition in the form of what artist Ligia Lewis calls a ‘dissonant chorus,’ unharmonious in its collectivity,” said Iles and Onli in a joint statement. “It is striking how many artists are contending with relationships between the psyche and the body, and the precarity of the past few years… we have made an exhibition that unfolds as a set of relations, exploring the challenges of coming together in a fractured moment.”

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The 2024 Biennial features work from a spectrum of mediums and disciplines across the Whitney Museum’s gallery space along with additional film and performance programs—guest curated by Taja Cheek, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Asinnajaq, Greg de Cuir Jr., and Zackary Drucker—available both at the museum and online. The 71-artist lineup includes established contemporary artists such as Harmony Hammond, Pippa Garner, and Mary Lovelace, as well as emerging artists, including Indigenous sculptor Rose B. Simpson—who recently exhibited her works at the museum in a solo showcase—and multidisciplinary artist Ser Serpas.

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Featuring new creatives alongside seasoned artists is important to Scott Rothkopf, the Alice Pratt Brown Director at the museum, who emphasized in a statement, “The Biennial is an engine that powers the Whitney forward, by introducing new artists and ideas to our community and beyond. It is both what we do and who we are.”

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A complete list of “Even Better Than the Real Thing” artists can be found below:

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Gallery artists

Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio
Born 1990 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Dora Budor
Born 1984 in Zagreb, Croatia
Lives in New York, NY

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Seba Calfuqueo
Born 1991 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in Ngulumapu, Wallmapu (Chile)

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Demian DinéYazhi’
Born 1983 in Gallup, NM, (Diné Bikéyah [Navajo Nation])
Lives in Portland, OR, and elsewhere

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Torkwase Dyson
Born 1973 in Chicago, IL
Lives in Beacon, NY

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JJJJJerome Ellis
Born 1989 in Groton, CT
Lives in Norfolk, VA

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Jes Fan
Born 1990 in Scarborough, Canada
Lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Hong

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Nikita Gale
Born 1983 in Anchorage, AK, Dënéndeh and Dena’ina Ełnena
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Ektor Garcia
Born 1985 in Red Bluff, CA
Lives in Mexico City, Mexico, and elsewhere

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Pippa Garner
Born 1942 in Evanston, IL
Lives in Long Beach, CA

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Harmony Hammond
Born 1944 in Chicago, IL
Lives in Galisteo, NM

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Sharon Hayes
Born 1970 in Baltimore, MD
Lives in Philadelphia, PA

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Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst
Holly Herndon: Born 1980 in Johnson City, TN
Mat Dryhurst: Born 1984 in Birmingham, UK
Live in Berlin, Germany

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Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
Born 1987 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY

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Suzanne Jackson
Born 1944 in St. Louis, MO
Lives in Savannah, GA

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Isaac Julien
Born 1960 in London, U.K.
Lives in London, U.K., and Santa Cruz, CA

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Lotus L. Kang
Born 1985 in Toronto, Canada
Lives in New York, NY

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Mary Kelly
Born 1941 in Fort Dodge, IA
Lives in New York, NY

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Carolyn Lazard
Born 1987 in San Bernardino, CA
Lives in New York, NY

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Dionne Lee
Born 1988 in New York, NY
Lives in Columbus, OH

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Ligia Lewis
Born 1983 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Lives in Berlin, Germany

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Mary Lovelace O’Neal
Born 1942 in Jackson, MS
Lives in Oakland, CA, and Merida, Mexico

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Cannupa Hanska Luger
Born 1979 in Fort Yates, ND (Standing Rock Reservation)
Lives in Glorieta, NM

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K.R.M. Mooney
Born 1990 in Seattle, WA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Dala Nasser
Born 1990 in Tyre, Lebanon
Lives in Beirut, Lebanon, and London, U.K.

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Diane Severin Nguyen
Born 1990 in Carson, CA
Lives in New York, NY

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Karyn Olivier
Born 1968 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Lives in Philadelphia, PA

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Ingrid Olson
Born 1987 in Denver, CO
Lives in Chicago, IL

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Eamon Ore-Giron
Born 1973 in Tucson, AZ
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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People Who Stutter Create
Founded 2023
Jia Bin, Delicia Daniels, JJJJJerome Ellis, Conor Foran, Kristel Kubart

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Julia Phillips
Born 1985 in Hamburg, Germany
Lives in Chicago, IL

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Mavis Pusey
Born 1928 in Retreat, Jamaica
Died 2019 in Falmouth, VA

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Maja Ruznic
Born 1983 in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Yugoslavia)
Lives in Placitas, NM

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Ser Serpas
Born 1995 in East Los Angeles, CA
Lives in New York, NY

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Rose B. Simpson
Born 1990 in Santa Fe, NM
Lives in Santa Clara Pueblo, NM

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P. Staff
Born 1987 in the U.K.
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Clarissa Tossin
Born 1973 in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Tourmaline
Born 1983 in Boston, MA
Lives in New York, NY

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Charisse Pearlina Weston
Born 1988 in Houston, TX
Lives in New York, NY

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Kiyan Williams
Born 1991 in Newark, NJ
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Carmen Winant
Born 1983 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Columbus, OH

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Takako Yamaguchi
Born 1952 in Okayama, Japan
Lives in Santa Monica, CA

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Constantina Zavitsanos
Born 1977 in Reading, PA
Lives in New York, NY

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Film program artists

Siku Allooloo
Born 1986 in Yellowknife, Canada
Lives in Bowser, Canada

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Seba Calfuqueo
Born 1991 in Santiago, Chile
Lives in Ngulumapu, Wallmapu (Chile)

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Christopher Harris
Born 1962 in St. Louis, MO
Lives in Coralville, IA

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Miranda Haymon
Born 1993 in Boston, MA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Ho Tzu Nyen
Born 1976 in Singapore
Lives in Singapore

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Yasmine Anlan Huang
Born 1996 in Guangzhou, China
Lives in London, U.K., and New York, NY

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Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
Born 1987 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY

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Aron Kantor
Born 1978 in San Francisco, CA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Kite
Born 1990 in Sylmar, CA
Lives in Ancram, NY

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Gbenga Komolafe and Tee Park
Komolafe: Born 2000 in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria
Park: Born 1999 in Seoul, South Korea
Live in Los Angeles, CA

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Jenni Laiti
Born 1981 in Anár, Sápmi (Inari, Finland)
Lives in Jåhkämåhkke, Sápmi (Jokkmokk, Sweden)

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Shuang Li
Born 1990 in Wuyi Mountains, China
Lives in Berlin, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland

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Simon Liu
Born 1987 in Hong Kong
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Nyala Moon
Born 1992 in New York, NY
Lives in the Brooklyn, NY

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Niillasaš-Jovnna Máreha Juhani Sunná Máret – Sunna Nousuniemi
Born 1993 in Anár, Sápmi
Lives in Anár, Sápmi

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Edward Owens
Born 1949 in Chicago, IL
Died 2010 in Chicago, IL

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Sydney Frances Pascal
Born 1993 in Nanaimo, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada

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Raqs Media Collective
Founded 1992 in Delhi, India
Jeebesh Bachi, Monica Marula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta

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Riar Rizaldi
Born 1990 in Bandung, Indonesia
Lives in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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Penelope Spheeris
Born 1945 in New Orleans, LA
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Lada Suomenrinne
Born 1995 in Murmansk, Russia
Lives in Espoo, Finland, and Njuorggán, Sápmi

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Alisi Telengut
Born 1989 in Inner Mongolia (Telengut and Mongolian nations)
Lives in Berlin, Germany, and Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada

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Chanelle Tyson
Born 1989 in Greensboro, NC
Lives in Los Angeles, CA

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Zulaa Urchuud
Born 1991 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Lives in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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Performance program artists

Holland Andrews
Born 1988 in Orange, CA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Debit
Born 1986 in Monterrey, Mexico
Lives in New York, NY

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JJJJJerome Ellis
Born 1989 in Groton, CT
Lives in Norfolk, VA

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Sarah Hennies
Born 1979 in Louisville, KY
Lives in Red Hook, NY

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Alex Tatarsky
Born 1989 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY, and Philadelphia, PA

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“Even Better Than the Real Thing” is on view starting March 20, 2024 at the Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort St, New York, NY 10014.

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