# Jack Whitten

Jack Whitten (December 5, 1939 – January 20, 2018) was an American abstract painter and sculptor. In 2016, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

## Early life and education

Jack Whitten was born December 5, 1939 in Bessemer, Alabama, to Mose Whitten and Annie B. Cunningham. His father was a coal miner who died during Whitten's childhood and his mother was a seamstress who eventually founded a private kindergarten. Planning a career as an army doctor, Whitten entered pre-medical studies at Tuskegee Institute from 1957 to 1959. He also traveled to nearby Montgomery, Alabama to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak during the Montgomery bus boycott and was deeply moved by his vision for a changed America.
In 1960, Whitten went to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to begin studying art and became involved in Civil Rights demonstrations there. He participated in a march from downtown Baton Rouge to the state capitol. His artistic ability led him to be in charge of producing the signs and slogans to be used at that demonstration.
Whitten believed strongly in Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent approach. However, witnessing the violent reactions from the segregationists made him realize that if he remained in the South, he would turn violent himself. Angered by the violent resistance to change he experienced, he moved to New York City in 1960. He enrolled at Cooper Union in the fall of 1960, graduating with a bachelor's degree in fine art in 1964. While still an undergraduate in 1962, Whitten began to carve wood and started creating sculptures. He met Mary Staikos, a fellow art student, during his time at Cooper Union. After graduating, he remained in New York as a working artist, heavily influenced by the abstract expressionists then dominating the art community, especially Willem de Kooning and Romare Bearden.

## Life and career

Shortly after leaving Cooper Union, Whitten had the opportunity to meet other Black artists, including Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis, while he remained in New York to start his art career. In 1964, Whitten completed his first formal series of paintings after university, his Heads series, an exploration of the possibilities of overlap between painting and photography. Created by suspending a painted canvas between two additional pieces of stretched fabric, these paintings primarily comprised a central area of translucent white pigment against black, resembling an abstracted face or head floating in space.
Whitten's art style was abstract, and he referred to his work as having "truth" and "soul". Much of Whitten's artwork was inspired by his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement. Whitten concluded that slavery obstructed the culture of people of color, and believed that it was his destiny to restore the culture through his pieces.
Whitten's earliest paintings date back to the 1960s. A large portion of Whitten's artwork had a feathery, soft effect, which Whitten achieved by placing a nylon mesh fabric over his wet acrylic paintings. Whitten also used a T-shaped tool, which he called the "developer". Whitten would move the tool across the surface of his art in one single motion. This technique was used to represent one point being related to another.
After his brother's death in an apartment fire in New York in 1966, Whitten made a painting in his brother's honor, the first of a series of memorial paintings dedicated to friends, family, and notable public figures. Whitten and Staikos married in 1968. In 1969, Whitten began traveling annually to the Greek island of Crete with Staikos, a Greek-American. He eventually acquired a studio on the island which he used for his sculpture practice.
One of Whitten's most famous bodies of work is his Black Monolith Series. Most of the work in this series was a homage or tribute to black activists, politicians, and artists. The two best-known works from this series includes Whitten's Black Monolith III For Barbara Jordan, 1998 and Black Monolith II, Homage to Ralph Ellison The Invisible Man, 1994.
Whitten's work was featured in the Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972. The Whitney mounted a solo exhibition of his paintings in 1974. He has also had individual shows at numerous museums, galleries, and universities, including a 10-year retrospective in 1983 at the Studio Museum in Harlem and an exhibition of memorial paintings in 2008 at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1974, Whitten participated in a residency at the Xerox corporation, giving him access to the then-new technology required for xerography printing. After the residency, Whitten experimented with a range of drawings made with toner.
Throughout his career, Whitten concerned himself with the techniques and materials of painting and the relationship of artworks to their inspirations. At times he pursued quickly-applied gestural techniques akin to photography or printmaking, while at others his deliberate and constructive hand is evident. The New York Times labeled him the father of a "new abstraction."
When the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center occurred, Whitten was at his studio on Lispenard Street in Tribeca. In the following years, he constructed a monumental painting with ashes embedded in it as a memorial of the day.
President Barack Obama awarded Whitten the 2015 National Medal of Arts Award.

## Exhibitions

In 2013, curator Katy Siegel organized the exhibition Light Years: Jack Whitten, 1971-73 at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. The exhibition featured many works created by Whitten between 1971 and 1973 which had never been exhibited before. In 2014, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego hosted a 50–year retrospective exhibition of Whitten's work; the show later traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. As part of his Walker engagement, Whitten wrote an Artist Op-Ed on racism and "the role of art in times of unspeakable violence."
In 2018, the Baltimore Museum of Art hosted the retrospective exhibition Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture 1963–2016, primarily focused on Whitten's sculptural practice. Organized at the end of Whitten's life and opened shortly after his passing, the exhibition also traveled to the Met Breuer in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2019, the Hamburger Bahnhof–Museum für Gegenwart – part of the Berlin National Gallery – hosted the retrospective Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks, Whitten's first solo exhibition in a European museum.
In March 2025, the Museum of Modern Art will present Jack Whitten: The Messenger, the first monographic exhibit to showcase the entire range of Whitten's artistic media, including sculpture, painting, and printmaking.

## Art market

Whitten was represented by Hauser & Wirth (2016–2018), Alexander Gray Associates (2007–2016), and Zeno X Gallery.

## Personal life

Whitten married Florence Squires in the early 1960s and divorced soon after. He remarried to Mary Staikos in 1968, whom he had met as a student at Cooper Union. He had two children from his two marriages, both girls.
Whitten died in Manhattan at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital on January 20, 2018, at age 78 of complications from leukemia. Whitten and his second wife Mary resided in Queens, New York, at the time of his death.

## Notable works in public collections

* Homage to Malcolm (1965); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
* NY Battle Ground (1967); Museum of Modern Art, New York
* John Lennon Altarpiece (1968); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
* Slip Zone (1971); Dallas Museum of Art
* Pink Psyche Queen (1973); Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
* Chinese Sincerity (1974); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
* Siberian Salt Grinder (1974); Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Sorcerer's Apprentice (1974); Whitney Museum, New York
* Sphinx Alley II (1975); National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
* Epsilon Group I (1976); Dallas Museum of Art
* Epsilon Group II (1977); Tate, London
* Khee I (1978); Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
* Khee II (1978); Art Institute of Chicago
* Black Monolith I, A Tribute to James Baldwin (1988); Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland
* Natural Selection (1994); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
* 9.11.01 (2006); Baltimore Museum of Art
* Atopolis: For Édouard Glissant (2014); Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Black Monolith XI, Six Kinky Strings: For Chuck Berry (2017); Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland

## Publications

* Whitten, Jack (Fall 2016). "The Refactoring of Painting: A Talk by Jack Whitten". Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire. Vol. 16, no. 2. pp. 62–69, 142. OCLC 34971120. ProQuest 1855776880.
* Whitten, Jack (2018). Siegel, Katy (ed.). Jack Whitten: Notes from the Woodshed. Zurich: Hauser & Wirth. ISBN 9783906915173. OCLC 1041227878.
* Whitten, Jack (2018). "Why Do I Carve Wood?". In Siegel, Katy (ed.). Odyssey: Jack Whitten, Sculpture 1963–2017. Baltimore / New York: Baltimore Museum of Art / Gregory R. Miller & Co. pp. 36–39. ISBN 9781941366172. OCLC 1022977718.

## Citations and references
### Citations

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Genzlinger, Neil (23 January 2018). "Jack Whitten, Artist of Wide-Ranging Curiosity, Dies at 78". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
* 1 2 Otfinoski, Steven (14 May 2014). African Americans in the Visual Arts. Infobase Publishing. pp. 222–. ISBN 978-1-4381-0777-6.
* 1 2 3 Richelson, Paul William (1 March 1995). Alabama impact: contemporary artists with Alabama ties. Mobile Museum of Art. ISBN 9781885820013.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Smee, Sebastian (22 January 2018). "Jack Whitten: once neglected artist lately the toast of the art world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sung, Victoria (29 January 2018). "Stories of the Soul: A Farewell to Jack Whitten". Walker Reader. Walker Art Center. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* 1 2 3 Whitten, Jack (23 January 2018). "An Interview with artist Jack Whitten". Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Interview). Interviewed by DeBerry, Linda. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
* ↑ Baum (2018), p. 139
* 1 2 3 Siegel (2018), p. 13
* ↑ Kanjo (2015), p. 20
* ↑ Beckstette (2019), p. 45
* ↑ Kanjo (2015), p. 21
* ↑ Beckstette (2019), pp. 51, 61, note 9
* ↑ Kanjo (2015), p. 32
* ↑ "Black Monolith III for Barbara Jordan". The MET. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
* ↑ "Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison)". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
* ↑ Cochran, Rebecca Dimling (8 May 2008). "Jack Whitten at The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center". Artforum. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ De Salvo (2023), p. 41
* ↑ Kley, Elisabeth (15 September 2011). "Jack Whitten: From Garbage To Gems". Artnet News. OCLC 959715797. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Abbe, Mary (14 September 2015). "Unmasked: All-American art of Jack Whitten opens at Walker Art Center". Minnesota Star Tribune. OCLC 43369847. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ "President Obama to Award National Medals of Arts | NEA". www.arts.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
* ↑ Williams, Gregory (December 2013). "Gregory Williams on Jack Whitten". Artforum. Vol. 52, no. 4. OCLC 20458258. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
* ↑ Muchnic, Suzanne (December 2014). "Jack Whitten at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego". ARTnews. Vol. 113, no. 11. p. 120. OCLC 2392716.
* 1 2 Greenberger, Alex (21 January 2018). "Jack Whitten, Beloved Painter of Abstract Cosmologies, Dies at 78". ARTnews. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
* ↑ Whitten, Jack (3 December 2015). "A Circle of Blood". Walker Reader. Walker Art Center. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Smith, Roberta (6 September 2018). "Revealing a Secret Art Life: A Painter's Sculptures". The New York Times. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
* ↑ Glentzer, Molly (22 April 2019). "The works of artists Sally Mann and Jack Whitten are steeped in America's racial history". Houston Chronicle. OCLC 30348909. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Herbert, Martin (Summer 2019). "Jack Whitten at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin". ArtReview. Vol. 71, no. 5. OCLC 28239694. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Miller, M.H. (27 February 2025). "Seven Years After Jack Whitten's Death, His Studio Remains Nearly Untouched". T: The New York Times Style Magazine. OCLC 56425907. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Rabb, Maxwell (25 July 2024). "Jack Whitten's first comprehensive retrospective will be presented at MoMA". Artsy. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ Greenberger, Alex (15 April 2016). "Hauser & Wirth Adds Jack Whitten to Its Roster, Plans Show for Spring 2017". ARTnews. OCLC 2392716. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
* ↑ "Homage to Malcolm". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
* ↑ "NY Battle Ground". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "John Lennon Altarpiece". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Slip Zone". Dallas Museum of Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Pink Psyche Queen". Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Chinese Sincerity". Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Siberian Salt Grinder". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Sorcerer's Apprentice". Whitney Museum. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Sphinx Alley II". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Epsilon Group I". Dallas Museum of Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Epsilon Group II". Tate. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Khee I". Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Khee II". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Black Monolith I, A Tribute to James Baldwin". Glenstone. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Natural Selection". Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "9.11.01". Baltimore Museum of Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Atopolis: For Édouard Glissant". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
* ↑ "Black Monolith XI, Six Kinky Strings: For Chuck Berry". Glenstone. Retrieved 5 March 2025.

### Cited references

* Baum, Kelly (2018). "Continental Drift: The Sculptures of Jack Whitten". In Siegel, Katy (ed.). Odyssey: Jack Whitten, Sculpture 1963–2017. Baltimore / New York: Baltimore Museum of Art / Gregory R. Miller & Co. pp. 138–145. ISBN 9781941366172. OCLC 1022977718.
* Beckstette, Sven (2019). "Extending the Meaning of Abstraction: Jack Whitten's Work in the Gap between Form and Content". In Kittelmann, Udo; Beckstette, Sven (eds.). Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks (in English and German). Berlin / Munich: Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart / Prestel Publishing. pp. 45–63. ISBN 9783791358628. OCLC 1112503550.
* De Salvo, Donna (2023). "'Gray is Power': Jack Whitten's Xerox Project". In De Salvo, Donna; Guidelli-Guidi, Matilde; O'Dwyer, Deirdre (eds.). Jack Whitten: The Greek Alphabet Paintings. New York: Dia Art Foundation. pp. 41–51. ISBN 9780944521991. OCLC 1374494397.
* Kanjo, Kathryn (2015). "Facing Abstraction". Jack Whitten: Five Decades of Painting. Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. pp. 18–39. ISBN 9780934418744. OCLC 910702740.
* Siegel, Katy, ed. (2018). "Polytropos". Odyssey: Jack Whitten, Sculpture 1963–2017. Baltimore / New York: Baltimore Museum of Art / Gregory R. Miller & Co. pp. 12–27. ISBN 9781941366172. OCLC 1022977718.