Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept at Whitney Museum of American Art

Artists: Lisa Alvarado, Harold Ancart, Mónica Arreola, Emily Barker, Yto Barrada, Rebecca Belmore, Jonathan Berger, Nayland Blake, Cassandra Press, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Raven Chacon, Leidy Churchman, Tony Cokes, Jacky Connolly, Matt Connors, Alex Da Corte, Aria Dean, Danielle Dean, Jane Dickson, Buck Ellison, Alia Farid, Coco Fusco, Ellen Gallagher, A Gathering of the Tribes /Steve Cannon, Cy Gavin, Adam Gordon, Renée Green, Pao Houa Her, EJ Hill, Alfredo Jaar, Rindon Johnson, Ivy Kwan Arce, Julie Tolentino, Ralph Lemon, Duane Linklater, James Little, Rick Lowe, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Dave McKenzie, Rodney McMillian, Na Mira, Alejandro “Luperca” Morales, Moved by the Motion (Wu Tsang and Tosh Basco), Terence Nance, Woody De Othello, Adam Pendleton, N. H. Pritchard, Lucy Raven, Charles Ray, Jason Rhoades, Andrew Roberts, Guadalupe Rosales, Veronica Ryan, Rose Salane, Michael E. Smith, Sable Elyse Smith, Awilda Sterling-Duprey, Rayyane Tabet, Denyse Thomasos, Trinh T. Minh-ha, WangShui, Eric Wesley, Dyani White Hawk, Kandis Williams

Exhibition title: Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept

Curated by: David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards

Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, US

Date: April 6 – September 5, 2022

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and ©Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Since the start of the pandemic, time has expanded, contracted, suspended, and blurred—often in dizzying succession. We began planning this Biennial in late 2019: before Covid and its reeling effects, before the uprisings demanding racial justice, before the widespread questioning of institutions and their structures, before the 2020 presidential election. Although underlying conditions are not new, their overlap, their intensity, and their sheer ubiquity created a context in which past, present, and future folded into one another. We organized this Biennial to reflect these precarious and improvised times. Many artists’ contributions are dynamic, taking different forms during the course of the exhibition. Artworks change, walls move, and performances animate the galleries and surrounding objects. The spaces of the Biennial contrast significantly, acknowledging the acute polarity of our society. One floor is a labyrinth, a dark space of containment; another is a clearing, open and light filled.

Rather than offering a unified theme, we pursue a series of hunches throughout the exhibition: that abstraction demonstrates a tremendous capacity to create, share, and sometimes withhold meaning; that research-driven conceptual art can combine the lushness of ideas and materiality; that personal narratives sifted through political, literary, and pop cultures can address larger social frameworks; that artworks can complicate the meaning of “American” by addressing the country’s physical and psychological boundaries; and that our present moment can be reimagined by engaging with under-recognized artistic models and artists we have lost. Deliberately intergenerational and interdisciplinary, this Biennial proposes that cultural, aesthetic, and political possibility begins with meaningful exchange and reciprocity.

The subtitle of this Biennial, Quiet as It’s Kept, is a colloquialism. We were inspired by the ways novelist Toni Morrison, jazz drummer Max Roach, and artist David Hammons have invoked it in their works. The phrase is typically said prior to something—often obvious—that should be kept secret. We also adorned the exhibition with a symbol, ) (, from a N. H. Pritchard poem, on view in the exhibition, as a gesture toward openness and interlude. All of the Whitney’s Biennials serve as forums for artists, and the works on view reflect their enigmas, the things that perplex them, and the important questions they are asking. But each of the Biennials also exists as an institutional statement, and every team of curators is entrusted with making an exhibition that resides within the Museum’s history, collection, and reputation. In its eightieth iteration, the Biennial continues to function as an ongoing experiment.

Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept is co-organized by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, and Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Mia Matthias, Curatorial Assistant; Gabriel Almeida Baroja, Curatorial Project Assistant; and Margaret Kross, former Senior Curatorial Assistant.

Curatorial Statement
By David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards




Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Press Reel)

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). From left to right: Veronica Ryan, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, 2022; Awilda Sterling-Duprey, . . . blindfolded, 2020–; Duane Linklater, a selection from the series mistranslate_wolftreeriver_ininîmowinîhk and wintercount_215_kisepîsim, 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Alia Farid, Palm Orchard, 2022

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). From left to right: Emily Barker, Kitchen, 2019; Jacky Connolly, Descent into Hell, 2021. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). From left to right: Charles Ray, Burger, 2021; Charles Ray, Jeff, 2021; Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall, 2021. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022).  David Hammons, A Gathering of the Tribes series, 1998-2013. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). From left to right: Alex Da Corte, ROY G BIV, 2022; Leidy Churchman, Mountains Walking, 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). Rodney McMillian, shaft, 2021-22. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). Rénee Green, Space Poem #7 (Color Without Objects: Intra-Active May-Words), 2020. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022).  From left to right: Denyse Thomasos, Jail, 1993; Denyse Thomasos, Displaced Burial/Burial at Gorée, 1993. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Jason Rhoades, Sutter’s Mill, 2000. Performance, Whitney Museum of American Art, April 2022. Polished aluminum pipes, polished aluminum, wood, metal profiles, metal clamps, blue plastic barrels, wood trestle, cleaning rags, clothing, backpacks, construction helmets, lamp, and laminated color prints (from Perfect World, 1999). Photograph by Paula Court

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). From left to right: Adam Pendleton, Untitled (Days), 2021-22; Daniel Joseph Martinez, Three Critiques*#3 The Post-Human Manifesto for the Future;/ On the Origin of Species/or E=hνÓ/(+) We are here to/ hold humans/ accountable for crimes against/ humanity OR/ In the twilight of the empire, in the spider hole where the/masters of the earth have gone to ground with their simulacral/weapons,/ reality gives way to a violent Technological/Phantasmagoria Celestial/ Event or Homo Sapiens are the. Ultimate Invasive Species on the Earth or MODERNISM has/ failed us, the EMPIRE is collapsing, humans are/MORALLY indefensible or A world between what we/know and what we fear or/ Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one/ Or Homines corruptissimi/ Condememant quod non intellegunt; N. H. Pritchard, Papers from Mundus: A Novel, 1970; N. H. Pritchard, Untitled, n.d.; N. H. Pritchard, Bibliography of public readings and discussions, 1965; N. H. Pritchard, Untitled (Novae- and Gyre-) ( ), 1986; N. H. Pritchard, Untitled, 1967; N. H. Pritchard, Untitled, 1968; N. H. Pritchard, Untitled, n.d.; N. H. Pritchard, Red Abstract/fragment, 1968-69. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). Jonathan Berger, An Introduction to Nameless Love, 2019. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). Lucy Raven, Demolition of a Wall (Album 1), 2022. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). From left to right: Sable Elyse Smith, A Clockwork, 2021; Woody De Othello, The will to make things happen, 2021; Emily Barker, Kitchen, 2019. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6- September 5, 2022). Coco Fusco, Your Eyes Will Be an Empty Word, 2021. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Moved by the Motion, still from MOBY DICK; or, The Whale, 2022. Directed by Wu Tsang, Schauspielhaus. High-definition video, color, silent, and performance. Courtesy the artists

Mónica Arreola, Untitled from Valle San Pedro, 2020. Digital photograph, 25 1/4 × 36 in. (64.1 × 91.4 cm). Collection of the artist

Alfredo Jaar, still from 06.01.2020 18.39, 2022. Video projection, sound, and fans; 5:20 min. Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York and Paris

Mónica Arreola, Untitled from Valle San Pedro, 2018. Digital photograph, 25 1/4 × 36 in. (64.1 × 91.4 cm). Collection of the artist

Awilda Sterling-Duprey, . . . blindfolded, 2020–. Performance, Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2022. Image by Oresti Tsonopoulos, Alex Munro, Jack Pearce, and Nick Schiarizzi

Yto Barrada, still from A Day Is a Day, 2022. 16mm film on two projectors, color, sound, looped; 20 min. Courtesy the artist, Pace Gallery, and Sfeir-Semler Gallery

Rebecca Belmore, prototype for ishkode (fire), 2021. Clay and bullet casings. Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist. Photograph by Henri Robideau

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, A Ble Wail, documentation of performance at Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, 1975. Black and white photographs and typewritten text on paper, 11 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (29.2 × 21 cm). Image courtesy the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; gift of the Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Memorial Foundation

Raven Chacon, For Carmina Escobar from For Zitkála-Šá, 2018. Lithograph, 11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the O’Grady Foundation; image courtesy the artist and Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts, Pendleton, OR. Photograph by Nika Blasser

Alia Farid, still from Chibayish, 2022. Ultra-high-definition video, color, sound; 22:19 min. Courtesy the artist

Tony Cokes, still from HS LST WRDZ, 2021. HD video, color, sound; 2:30 min. Image courtesy the artist; Greene Naftali, New York; Hannah Hoffman, Los Angeles; and Electronic Arts Intermix, New York

Jacky Connolly, still from Descent into Hell, 2021. Multichannel HD video, color, sound; 33:57 min. Courtesy the artist

Jacky Connolly, still from Descent into Hell, 2021. Multichannel HD video, color, sound; 33:57 min. Courtesy the artist

Jacky Connolly, still from Descent into Hell, 2021. Multichannel HD video, color, sound; 33:57 min. Courtesy the artist

Cy Gavin, Untitled (Snag), 2022. Acrylic and vinyl on canvas, 90 × 81 in. (228.6 × 205.7 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong

Danielle Dean, still from Long Low Line (Fordland), 2019. HD video, color, sound; 18:01 min. Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist; 47 Canal, New York; and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles

Jane Dickson, 99¢ Dreams, 2020. Acrylic on linen, 39 x 73 in. (99 × 185.4 cm). Collection of the artist

Jane Dickson, Big Terror, 2020. Acrylic on linen, 65 × 73 in. (165.1 × 185.4 cm). Collection of the artist

Jane Dickson, Fascination Sign 1, 2020. Oil stick on linen, 36 × 56 in. (91.4 × 142.2 cm). Collection of the artist. Photograph by Jacob Tran

Ellen Gallagher, Ecstatic Draught of Fishes, 2022. Oil, pigment, palladium leaf, and paper on canvas, 89 3/4 × 118 1/8 in. (248 × 300 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist; Gagosian, New York; and Hauser & Wirth, New York

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6-September 5, 2022). Eric Wesley, North American Buff Tit, 2022. Plastic, glass, stainless steel, and dichloromethane, 84 × 26 × 26 in. (213.4 × 66 × 66 cm). Collection of the artist. Image courtesy the artist and Bortolami, New York. Photograph by Guang Xu

Danielle Dean, still from Long Low Line (Fordland), 2019. HD video, color, sound; 18:01 min. Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist; 47 Canal, New York; and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles

Coco Fusco, still from Your Eyes Will Be an Empty Word, 2021. HD video, color, sound; 12 min. Collection of the artist, and Alexander Gray Associates, New York. Image courtesy the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York

Coco Fusco, production still from Your Eyes Will Be an Empty Word, 2021. HD video, color, sound; 12 min. Image courtesy the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York. Photograph by Geandy Pavón

Renée Green, Lesson, 1989. Photocopies, mixed media, and plastic signs on masonite and wood, three panels: 48 × 48, 48 × 96, 48 × 48 in. (122 × 122, 122 × 243.8, 122 × 122 cm). Collection of the artist. Image courtesy the artist; Free Agent Media; and Bortolami Gallery, New York. Photograph by Kristian Laudrup

Renée Green, Space Poem #7 (Color Without Objects: Intra-Active May-Words), 2020 (Installation view, Bortolami Gallery, New York, 2020). Polyester nylon and thread, 28 double-sided banners, 42 × 32 in. (106.7 × 81.3 cm) each. Image courtesy the artist; Free Agent Media; and Bortolami Gallery, New York. Photograph by Kristian Laudrup

Renée Green, Space Poem #7 (Color Without Objects: Intra-Active May-Words), 2020 (Installation view, Bortolami Gallery, New York, 2020). Polyester nylon and thread, 28 double-sided banners, 42 × 32 in. (106.7 × 81.3 cm) each. Image courtesy the artist; Free Agent Media; and Bortolami Gallery, New York. Photograph by Kristian Laudrup

Buck Ellison, The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday, Steyr-Mannlicher Luxus in .027 Winchester, See Statement 11, New Nanny, 2003, 2021. Archival pigment print, 58 × 43.5 in. (147.3 × 110.5 cm). Collection of the artist

WangShui, Hyaline Seed (Isle of Vitrous), 2022. Oil on aluminum panel, 120 × 120 × 12 in. (304.8 × 304.8 × 30.5 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and High Art, Paris. Photo by Alon Koppel

WangShui, Titration Point (Isle of Vitrous), 2022. Oil on aluminum panel, 120 × 120 × 12 in. (304.8 × 304.8 × 30.5 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and High Art, Paris. Photo by Alon Koppel

Harold Ancart, The Guiding Light, 2021. Oil stick and graphite pencil on canvas, artist’s frame, 99 1/2 × 137 1/2 in. (252.7 × 349.3 cm). Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist; David Zwirner, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong; and Clearing, New York and Brussels

Harold Ancart, The Guiding Light, 2021. Oil stick and graphite pencil on canvas, artist’s frame, 99 1/2 × 137 1/2 in. (252.7 × 349.3 cm). Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist; David Zwirner, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong; and Clearing, New York and Brussels

Pao Houa Her, Untitled (Tais Kai), from The Imaginative Landscape, 2017. Inkjet print, 52.5 × 42 in. (134 × 107 cm). Collection of the artist. Image courtesy the artist and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis

Pao Houa Her, Untitled from My Mother’s Flowers, 2016. Inkjet print, 40 × 32 in. (101.6 × 81.3 cm). Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis

Pao Houa Her, Hmong Veteran from Attention, 2012–13. Inkjet print, 50 × 40 in. (127 × 101.6 cm). Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis

Lisa Alvarado, a selection from the series Vibratory Cartography: Nepantla, 2021–22. Acrylic, ink, gouache, canvas, burlap, fringe, polyester, and wood, 87 × 90 in. (221 × 228.6 cm). Courtesy the artist; Bridget Donahue, New York; LC Queisser, Tbilisi; and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow

Ralph Lemon, Untitled, 2013. Ink on paper, 30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm). Image courtesy the artist

Ralph Lemon, Untitled, 2019. Ink, watercolor, acrylic, oil on paper, 30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm). Image courtesy the artist

Lisa Alvarado, a selection from the series Vibratory Cartography: Nepantla, 2021–22. Acrylic, ink, gouache, canvas, burlap, fringe, polyester, and wood, 82 × 90 in. (208.3 × 228.6 cm). Courtesy the artist; Bridget Donahue, New York; LC Queisser, Tbilisi; and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow

James Little, Stars and Stripes, 2021. Oil and wax on linen, 72 × 72 in. (182.9 × 182.9 cm). Courtesy the artist. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

James Little, Borrowed Times, 2021. Oil on linen, 64 × 74 in. (162.6 × 188 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago. Photograph by Ron Amstutz

Daniel Joseph Martinez, Three Critiques* #3 The Post-Human Manifesto for the Future; On the Origin of Species or E=hνÓ (+) We are here to hold humans accountable for crimes agains humanity OR In the twilight of the empire, in the spider hole where the masters of the earth have gone to ground with their simulacral weapons, reality gives way to a violent Technological Phantasmagoria Celestial Event or Homo Sapiens are the Ultimate Invasive Species on the Earth or MODERNISM has failed us, the EMPIRE is collapsing, humans are MORALLY indefensible or A world between what we know and what we fear or Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one Or Homines corruptissimi Condememant quod non intellegunt. Five photographs, 59 1/8 × 73 3/16 × 3 5/8 in. (150 × 185.9 × 9.1 cm) each. Collection of the artist

Matt Connors, Fourth Body Study, 2021. Colored pencil on paper, 8 1/4 × 5 3/4 in. (21 × 14.6 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist; CANADA, New York; The Modern Institute, Glasgow; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; and Herald St, London. Photo by Joe DeNardo

Matt Connors, Number Covered, 2021. Acrylic, oil, and colored pencil on canvas,18 1/8 × 14 1/8 × 1 1/4 in. (46 × 35.9 × 3.2 cm). Private Collection; courtesy the artist and CANADA, New York. Photo by Joe DeNardo

Dave McKenzie, still from Listed under Accessories, 2022. Two-channel digital video installation, color, sound; 34:12 min. Courtesy the artist; Vielmetter, Los Angeles; and Barbara Wien Gallery, Berlin

Dave McKenzie, still from Listed under Accessories, 2022. Two-channel digital video installation, color, sound; 34:12 min. Courtesy the artist; Vielmetter, Los Angeles; and Barbara Wien Gallery, Berlin

Alejandro “Luperca” Morales, Juárez Archive, 2020–. Novelty magnifying keychains containing 35mm slides, 2 5/16 × 1 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (5.9 × 3.8 × 3.5 cm) each. Image courtesy the artist. Photograph by Michelle Lartigue

Alejandro “Luperca” Morales, Juárez Archive (7512 Maravillas Street), 2020–. Novelty magnifying keychain containing 35mm slide, 2 5/16 × 1 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (5.9 × 3.8 × 3.5 cm) each. Image courtesy the artist. Photograph by Michelle Lartigue

Na Mira, Night Vision (Red as never been), 2022. Three-channel infrared high-definition video, color, sound, holographic plexiglass; 24:44 min. Courtesy the artist and Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles

H. Pritchard, Untitled, 1968. Ink and typewriter carbon on paper, 11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm). Private collection

H. Pritchard, Red Abstract / fragment, 1968–69. Typewriting and ink on paper, 11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm). Private collection

Rick Lowe, Project Row Houses: If Artists Are Creative Why Can’t They Create Solutions, 2021. Acrylic and paper collage on canvas, sixteen panels, 36 × 48 in. each, 144 × 192 in. overall (91.4 × 121.9 cm each, 370 × 490 cm overall). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and Gagosian, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Hong Kong

Rindon Johnson, a selection of panels from An island is all surrounded by water In the morning foreboding Quickly solved by dripping A shower, you know A slow crawl to the park Wait first meat A coffee A hill A roundabout A breeze on the lake A larking body of water, once screaming once babbling, once running A sleeping family A white child with A water gun A tall tree A tunneling A horn Another A too small blanket, you in my mind and next to me A wind in my ears, my basement look what I found, leave the lights on A sigh A tie on a rooftop A still flooding Another horn All in the flight path An immovable object A clapping of leaves A certainty, it is seven feet deep One boy watches the other A horn, 2022. Crayon, indigo, Vaseline, stone, ebonizing dye (coffee), gouache, and leather, four of eight panels. Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles and New York

Rindon Johnson, a selection of panels from An island is all surrounded by water In the morning foreboding Quickly solved by dripping A shower, you know A slow crawl to the park Wait first meat A coffee A hill A roundabout A breeze on the lake A larking body of water, once screaming once babbling, once running A sleeping family A white child with A water gun A tall tree A tunneling A horn Another A too small blanket, you in my mind and next to me A wind in my ears, my basement look what I found, leave the lights on A sigh A tie on a rooftop A still flooding Another horn All in the flight path An immovable object A clapping of leaves A certainty, it is seven feet deep One boy watches the other A horn, 2022. Crayon, indigo, Vaseline, stone, ebonizing dye (coffee), gouache, and leather, four of eight panels. Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles and New York. Photo by Paul Salveson

Andrew Roberts, La Horda (The horde), 2020 (detail). Eight-channel video installation, color, sound; each channel approx. 3–4 min. Collection of Mauricio Galguera. Image courtesy the artist and Pequod Co., Mexico City. Photograph by Sergio López

Andrew Roberts, CARGO: A certain doom, 2020. Tattoo on silicon, 5 7/8 × 20 1/2 × 3 7/8 in. (15 × 52 × 10 cm). Image courtesy the artist and Pequod Co., Mexico City. Photograph by Sergio López

Emily Barker, Kitchen, 2019. PET plastic, 15 × 15 × 15 ft. (4.6 × 4.6 × 4.6 m). Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist and Murmurs, Los Angeles. Photograph by Josh Schaedel

Tony Cokes, still from Mourning Is a Political Act . . . , 2021. HD video, color, sound; 2:30 min. Image courtesy the artist; Greene Naftali, New York; Hannah Hoffman, Los Angeles; and Electronic Arts Intermix, New York

Alex Da Corte, ROY G BIV, 2022. Wood box with back-projected screen, paint, performance, powder-coated chairs, video, color, sound; 60 min. Courtesy the artist; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York and Los Angeles; and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Adam Pendleton, still from Ruby Nell Sales, 2020–22. HD video, color and black-and-white, sound; 61:03 min. Courtesy the artist

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, still from Permutations, 1976. 16mm film, black and white, silent; 10 min. University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; gift of the Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Archive

Alia Farid, still from Chibayish, 2022. Ultra-high-definition video, color, sound; 22:19 min. Courtesy the artist

Guadalupe Rosales, Winter Solstice / Hazards, 2022. Archival pigment print, frame, 48 × 62 in. (121.9 × 157.5 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles

Moved by the Motion, still from MOBY DICK; or, The Whale, 2022. Directed by Wu Tsang, Schauspielhaus. High-definition video, color, silent, and performance. Courtesy the artists. Design Pics Inc / Alamy Stock Footage

Na Mira, Night Vision (Red as never been), 2022. Three-channel infrared high-definition video, color, sound, holographic plexiglass; 24:44 min. Courtesy the artist and Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles

Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino, ECHO POSITION: Poster, poster accompanying performance and installation by Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie Tolentino, 2021. Digital C-print, wood, and glass. Collection of the artists; image courtesy the artists

Buck Ellison, Rain in Rifle Season, Distributions from Split-Interest Trusts, Price Includes Uniform, Never Hit Soft, 2003, 2021. Archival pigment print, 40 × 53.3 in. (101.6 × 134.6 cm). Collection of the artist

Raven Chacon, still from Three Songs, 2021. Three-channel video installation; 6:51 min. Image courtesy the artist

Ellen Gallagher, Ecstatic Draught of Fishes, 2022. Oil, pigment, palladium leaf, and paper on canvas, 89 3/4 × 118 1/8 in. (248 × 300 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy the artist; Gagosian, New York; and Hauser & Wirth, New York

Matt Connors, Body Forth, 2021. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 × 27 in. (76.2 × 68.6 cm). Courtesy the artist; CANADA, New York; The Modern Institute, Glasgow; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; and Herald St, London

Danielle Dean, still from Long Low Line (Fordland), 2019. HD video, color, sound; 18:01 min. Collection of the artist; image courtesy the artist; 47 Canal, New York; and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles

Denyse Thomasos, Displaced Burial / Burial at Gorée, 1993. Acrylic on canvas, 108 × 216 in. (274.3 × 548.6 cm). Image courtesy the Estate of Denyse Thomasos and Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto

Trinh T. Minh-ha, still from What about China?, 2021. HD video, color, sound; 135 min. Courtesy the artist and Moongift Films. © Moongift Films

Trinh T. Minh-ha, still from What about China?, 2021. HD video, color, sound; 135 min. Courtesy the artist and Moongift Films. © Moongift Films

Kandis Williams, still from installation of Death of A, 2021. Four-channel videos, color, sound; 26:51 min. Courtesy the artist and Morán Morán

Kandis Williams, sketches for installation of Death of A, 2021. Image courtesy the artist

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, still from Permutations, 1976. 16mm film, black and white, silent; 10 min. University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; gift of the Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Archive

Yto Barrada, A Day Is a Day, 2022. 16mm film, color, sound, looped; 18 min. Courtesy the artist, Pace Gallery, and Sfeir-Semler Gallery