New York moments

America’s most provocative survey of contemporary art returns, and we look at how it has been steering the conversation for 90 years

Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

6 April–5 September www.whitney.org

Planning for this year’s Whitney began in – before the pandemic, the protests about the murder of George Floyd or the US election – so it seems fitting that the final product exists in a state of flux, with displays changing throughout the run. Curated by David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards and featuring artists and collectives, the exhibition looks particularly at the idea of borders, and how they pertain to American identities past and present. ‘No juries, no prizes’ was the clarion call in , as the Whitney was launched in opposition to academic gatekeepers to celebrate the vitality and variety of American art, for its own sake.

Putting on two shows a year, the event gained notoriety throughout the s and ’ s, providing key exposure for modernists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and, in

, Jackson Pollock.

In , the show shifted to its present biennial format with a bang (pictured) – filling five floors of the Breuer with the likes of Johns, Rauschenberg, Mitchell and Motherwell.

The show led the way in the s and ’ s in promoting the new activism of art – though in it incurred the ire of the Guerrilla Girls for scant representation of women (pictured).

(pictured) heralded the return of painting and sculpture from digital-age wilderness – just one example of how the biennial has continued to set trends in the new millennium.