Whitney Names 56 Artists For 2026 Biennial That Promises Not to Simplify ‘Strangeness of Our Times’

The Whitney Biennial has named 56 artists for its 82nd edition, slated to open on March 8 next year. Curated by Marcela Guerrero, the Whitney s DeMartini Family Curator, and Drew Sawyer, the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, the show will examine various forms of relationality, including interspecies kinships, familial relations, geopolitical entanglements, technological affinities, shared mythologies, and infrastructural supports, per the Whitney s website.

Among the chosen artists are Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, an artist duo of Palestinian descent, Kamrooz Aram (Iran/US), Joshua Citarella (US), Sung Tieu (Vietnam/Germany), and many more. In an interview with the New York Times, Sawyer said that he and Guerrero spent a year visiting over 300 artist studios around the world to put the list together.

“There will be new discoveries, even for art-world insiders,” Sawyer said. He added that several of the artists have not frequently been shown in New York.Guerrero said the biennial—which is the longest-running survey of contemporary art in the US—will interrogate themes such as kinship and infrastructure to try and shed light on how artists connect with the world, but also sometimes reject it.

The event will also question the US’s role in global affairs.The Whitney Biennial 2026 “offers a vivid atmospheric survey of contemporary American art shaped by a moment of profound transition,” the Whitney said on its website. “Rather than offering a definitive answer to life today, [this edition] foregrounds mood and texture, inviting visitors into environments that evoke tension, tenderness, humor, and unease.

Together, the works capture the complexity of the present and propose imaginative, unruly, and unexpected forms of coexistence.”The museum’s director, Scott Rothkopf, said that Sawyer and Guerrero’s selection “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.”Of the 56 artists, most are millennials, so under 45 years old, while roughly a third self-identify as queer. The majority work out of New York or California.Guerrero told the New York Times that the biennial will try to show people how the participating artists work and live.

“Expanding the notion of what American art is—or even what America is—was fun, and not typically part of what we do,” she said.Alongside the Venice Biennale and Documenta, the Whitney Biennial ranks among the most significant recurring exhibitions in the art world. Unlike those international festivals, however, the Whitney Biennial has a clearly defined mandate: each edition aims to present a broad snapshot of American art at a particular moment in time.

Organized by the Whitney Museum in New York, the exhibition occupies galleries throughout the institution. Here s the full artist list: Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme1983 / 1983Born Nicosia, Cyprus & Boston, MA; Based Brooklyn, NY & PalestineKelly Akashi1983Born Los Angeles, CA; Based Altadena, CAKamrooz Aram1978Born Shiraz, Iran; Based New York, NYAsh Arder1988Born Muscatawing (Flint, MI); Based Waawiyatanong (Detroit, MI)Teresa Baker1985Born Mandan/Hidatsa; Based Los Angeles, CASula Bermudez-Silverman1993Born New York, NY; Based Los Angeles, CAZach Blas1981Born Point Pleasant, WV; Based Toronto, CanadaEnzo Camacho & Ami Lien1985 / 1987Born Manila, Philippines & Dallas, TX; Based Berlin, Germany & New York, NYLeo Castañeda1988Born Cali, Colombia; Based Miami, FLCFGNYFounded in 2016Founded 2016; Based Brooklyn, NYNani Chacon1980Born Gallup, NM; Based Albuquerque, NM (Navajo Nation)Maia Chao1991Born Providence, RI; Based Philadelphia, PAJoshua Citarella1987Born New York, NY; Based New York, NYMo Costello1989Born Seattle, WA; Based Athens, GATaína H.

Cruz1998Born New York, NY; Based New Haven, CTCarmen de Monteflores1933Born San Juan, Puerto Rico; Based Berkeley, CAAli Eyal1994Born Baghdad, Iraq; Based Los Angeles, CAAndrea Fraser1965Born Billings, MT; Based Los Angeles, CAMariah Garnett1980Born Portland, ME; Based Los Angeles, CAIgnacio Gatica1988Born Santiago, Chile; Based New York, NY & Santiago, ChileJonathan González1991Born Queens, NY; Based New York, NY & Philadelphia, PAEmilie Louise Gossiaux1989Born New Orleans, LA; Based New York, NYKainoa Gruspe1995Born Louisville, KY; Based Honolulu, HIMartine Gutierrez1989Born Berkeley, CA; Based New York, NYSamia Halaby1936Born Palestine; Based New York, NYRaven Halfmoon1991Born Oklahoma City, OK; Based Norman, OK (Caddo Nation)Nile Harris with Dyer Rhoads1995 / 1996Born Miami, FL & Portland, ME; Based Brooklyn, NYAziz Hazara1992Born Wardak, Afghanistan; Based Berlin, GermanyMargaret Honda1961Born San Diego, CA; Based Los Angeles, CAAkira Ikezoe1979Born Kochi, Japan; Based New York, NYMao Ishikawa1953Born Okinawa (US Administration); Based Okinawa, JapanCooper Jacoby1989Born Princeton, NJ; Based Miami, FL & Paris, FranceDavid L. Johnson1993Born New York, NY; Based New York, NYkekahi wahiFounded 2020Based Honolulu, Kona, Oʻahu, HIYoung Joon Kwak1984Born Queens, NY; Based Los Angeles, CAMichelle Lopez1970Born Bridgeport, CT; Based Philadelphia, PAJosé Maceda1917Born Manila, Philippines; Died 2004, Quezon City, PhilippinesAgosto MachadoBorn New York, NY; Based New York, NYOswaldo Maciá1960Born Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Based Santa Fe, NM & London, UKEmilio Martínez Poppe1993Born Baltimore, MD; Based New York, NYIsabelle Frances McGuire1994Born Austin, TX; Based Chicago, ILKimowan Metchewais1963Born Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Canada; Died 2011, Saint Paul, Alberta (Cree, Cold Lake First Nations)Nour Mobarak1985Born Cairo, Egypt; Based Athens, Greece & Bainbridge Island, WAErin Jane Nelson1989Born Neenah, WI; Based Santa Fe, NMPrecious Okoyomon1993Born London, UK; Based Brooklyn, NYAki Onda1967Born Tenri, Nara, Japan; Based Mito, Ibaraki, JapanPat Oleszko1947Born Detroit, MI; Based New York, NYMalcolm Peacock1994Born Raleigh, NC; Based Brooklyn, NYSarah M.

Rodriguez1984Born Honolulu, HI; Based Ojo Caliente, NMGabriela Ruiz1991Born San Fernando Valley, CA; Based Los Angeles, CAJasmin Sian1969Born Philippines; Based New York, NYJordan Strafer1990Born Miami, FL; Based New York, NY & Athens, GreeceSung Tieu1987Born Hai Duong, Vietnam; Based Berlin, GermanyJulio Torres1987Born San Salvador, El Salvador; Based New York, NYAnna Tsouhlarakis1977Born Lawrence, KS; Based Boulder, CO (Navajo Nation & Creek)Johanna Unzueta1974Born Santiago, Chile; Based Berlin, Germany & New York, NY