Four members of the University of Chicago community—installation artist Marc Fischer, MFA’95, painter Philip Hanson, AB'65, sculptor Valerie Snobeck, MFA’08, and video and performance artist Catherine Sullivan—are among the 103 participants in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. The famed exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is known for highlighting the work of emerging American artists.
UChicago alumnus Anthony Elms, MFA’95, is one of the three curators of this year’s Biennial. Elms’ work as an artist was recently featured in “Wall Text” at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.
Sullivan, associate professor in visual arts, said she was “pleasantly surprised” to learn she would be featured in this year’s exhibition. Sullivan collaborated with alumna Valerie Snobeck on an installation using vintage airline menus.
“Valerie and I began this collaboration for the Frieze Art Fair in New York, and we really wanted to continue working,” Sullivan said.
In addition to numerous exhibitions in the United States and abroad, Sullivan’s work also has been exhibited at the Logan Center and the Renaissance Society.
Fischer is known for installation pieces that present archival material as art. His Biennial piece features material from the archives of Chicago activist Malachi Ritscher.
“I want to see the museum lend its authority to something which is not normally accorded it,” Fischer said in an interview with The New York Times.
Three other members of the University community were previously featured in the Biennial—William Pope.L, associate professor in Visual Arts, in 2002; Jessica Stockholder, the Raymond W. and Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor of Visual Arts and in the College, in 2004; and Theaster Gates, director of Arts and Public Life, in 2010.
—Prof. Kunle Odunsi
