Word: biennially
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...YORK--It may be impossible to finger the zeitgeist of contemporary art, but lucky for us the Whitney Museum would rather die than give up trying. Critics, however, would probably have killed the Whitney Biennial, the museum's signature showcase of contemporary art, years ago if it weren't for the fact that they would miss having a major exhibition to consistently complain about. The '93 Biennial, which featured the Rodney King video, was deemed too narrow and political, the '95 show too reactionary in its overemphasis on painting. Ironically, this year's exhibition has been labeled "tepid" and "boring...
Although the present Biennial avoids making a synthetic statement, the exhibition provides a great excuse to display an assortment of excellent new art. Given the diversity of contemporary visual practice and the widely accepted premise that all curating is somehow biased, it's no wonder that co-curators Lisa Phillips and Louise Neri staunchly resist labeling their exhibition a "survey." Even though the show feels more like a survey than any of the recent Biennials, in their catalog essay Phillips and Neri write that they tried to avoid making a "sampler" and instead looked for certain "millenial tendencies...
Demonstrating his extremely inventive use of video, Tony Oursler's sculptures simultaneously fascinate and disturb. For the Biennial, he presents his most restrained and sophisticated work yet, three-dimensional glass ovals resting on metal poles or the floor, on to which he projects video images of talking heads. They stare at the viewer and blankly recite children's variations of songs commonly heard in school yards: "Joy to the world, the teacher's dead; we barbecued her head." Yet monotone delivery and eerie visual presentation transform these rhymes into disturbing alien utterances. We watch both mesmerized and repulsed, while...
Compared to the '95 Biennial, which featured such American greats as Richard Serra, Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin and Cy Twombly, Phillips and Neri have placed more emphasis on newly emerging artists. This generational shift seems exceptionally welcome in light of the rather uncompelling contributions by the '97 Biennial's more well-known practitioners--including Bruce Nauman, Francesco Clemente and Dan Graham. A notable exception, Ilya Kabakov is one of the few older artists in the current exhibition whose seniority is reflected in the quality of his work. Perhaps overly ambitious for its context, his wistfull installation of a crumbling hospital...
Though usually mainstream Republican, Ashe has some unusual ideas on congressional reform. He believes bills should have only one subject; congressional sessions should last no longer than 100 days; congressional pay should be reduced; and the annual budget process should be biennial. Ashe knows he may not defeat the 32-year incumbent, but he is grateful to get his Republican message...