March 4th, 2026 — Member previews and an opening reception begin tonight for the eigthy-second edition of the Whitney Biennial featuring Pat Oleszko (CRF 2011, DG 2019) and José Maceda (CRF 1997). The longest-running survey of contemporary art in the United States asks what does America feels like and look like to artists right now. The answer was…”strange”. Scott Rothkopf, the museum’s director said in an interview with The New York Times, what the curators “have put together doesn’t try to simplify the strangeness of our times. It allows visitors to encounter the world as artists are sensing it, structurally unstable and emotionally charged yet also full of possibility.” Curator Marcela Guerrero said that the exhibition expands on the the notion of what America and American art is.
Pat and José’s work is alongside work from 54 other artists, duos, and collectives, which, “rather than offering a definitive answer to life today, foreground mood and texture, inviting visitors into environments that evoke tension, tenderness, humor, and unease.” This year’s exhibition “examines various forms of relationality, including interspecies kinships, familial relations, geopolitical entanglements, technological affinities, shared mythologies, and infrastructural supports” (whitney.org).
As an international artist residency with diversity at its core, Civitella is proud to recognize the contributions of the international artists featured in this year’s Biennial, including José Maceda (CRF 1997) who was born in Manila and died in Quezon City, Philippines in 2004.
Whitney Biennial 2026 runs from Mar 8 to Aug 23, 2026. Tickets are free on Fridays nights from 5 to 10 PM, and on the second Sunday of every month. Reserve yours at whitney.org.