Exhibition Review

I want to start by saying that the Buffalo AKG Art Museum is one of my absolute favorite museums. Though I don't visit Buffalo often, and when I do it’s usually to see family, I always make sure to carve out one day to visit the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, and it never disappoints. Despite its relatively small size, with a collection of just 6,740 works, compared to a museum like MoMA's 200,000 piece collection, the Buffalo AKG holds its ground with one of the finest collections of art of any museum.

**Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon (Exhibition Catalogue)**

So, when I found out I would be visiting Buffalo for a wedding, I hoped the timing would coincide with the reopening of the museum after its expansive three-year renovation. I was thrilled to discover that the museum would indeed be open to the public during my visit.

As my visit drew near, I eagerly checked the museum's website to discover which exhibits would grace my stay. The Stanley Whitney retrospective immediately captured my imagination. Familiar with Whitney's vibrant, rhythmic compositions from other esteemed collections, I was thrilled at the prospect of experiencing his work anew. Serendipitously, I managed to catch this extraordinary exhibit in its final week, adding a perfect touch to my visit.

How High the Moon marks the first comprehensive retrospective charting the development of Stanley Whitney’s distinct and compelling abstractions throughout his fifty-year career. The exhibition draws its title from the 1940 song by Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, a jazz classic that embodies themes of enchantment, yearning, and a quest for the sublime.

Upon entering the exhibit, you are immediately immersed in a vibrant array of colors. For those who appreciate bold, vibrant, and colorful paintings, this experience is a visual delight; for others, it might feel overwhelming. However, this intensity is to be expected when exploring a retrospective of Stanley Whitney's work on such a grand scale.

Since 2002, Whitney's abstract canvases have enchanted viewers with their square formats and loosely structured grids. Each composition presents four horizontal rows of alternately askew and ordered squares, rendered with varying degrees of opacity. While the format has remained consistent over the past two decades, each painting is a unique exploration of color and form. The subtle variations invite a closer look, revealing the nuanced differences that set each piece apart. Some might find the repetition monotonous, but Whitney’s true genius lies in his ability to prompt an emotional journey through color, distinguishing one painting from the next.

Whitney began experimenting with these evolving grids in his mid-fifties and, like many notable artists of color in the twentieth century, gained broader critical acclaim later in his career. This exhibition is the first to place Whitney’s celebrated recent works in context with a significant selection of his earlier, pioneering pieces. In the late 1970s, Whitney’s rhythmic compositions featured softly rounded colored forms brought to life by short, staccato brushstrokes. During this time, his palette became ethereal as he layered acrylic paints, grappling with the medium’s flatness and opacity.

Untitled, 1979 (Photo by Author)

Sixteen Songs, 1984 (Photo by Author)

From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, Whitney delved into the spatial interplay between foreground and background, object and field, as seen in works like "Untitled, 1979." By 1983, he had moved away from acrylics and his earlier palette. His journeys between the mid-1980s and early 1990s—to the American West, Italy, and Egypt—profoundly shaped his art. Prior to these travels, pieces such as "Sixteen Songs, 1984" showcased a vibrant rhythm and interplay of suspended colored forms, a style Whitney termed "landscape air." Post-journey, his paintings, including "By the Love of Those Unloved, 1994," were structured around a loose framework of horizontal lines, reflecting his artistic evolution.

This evolution led to a more consistent format where each piece was organized around a fluid grid, allowing Whitney to explore the formal and expressive dimensions of color in depth. In this approach, one hue might evoke the grandeur of an Italian Renaissance masterpiece in one moment and the vibrant shirt of a passerby in the next, showcasing the rich diversity and emotional resonance of his work.

Stanley Whitney, By The Love of Those Unloved, 1994 (Photo by Author)

How High the Moon also showcases a vast array of Whitney’s improvisational small paintings, as well as his significant body of drawings and prints. It includes a chronological selection of his sketchbooks from 1987 to 2021, revealing his engagement with the written word and political themes. The exhibition places his work in the context of his varied inspirations, such as music, poetry, American quilts, and the history of art and architecture.

I always enjoy seeing artists' studies because they often represent the initial stages of a more deliberate idea or an idea that might be completely abandoned. Studies offer a more intimate view, as if you are pulling back the curtain just a bit more. The gallery filled with his studies and works on paper was probably one of my favorite parts of the entire show. I tend to look at artists' studies as their visual diary of brainstorming and experimenting. Experiencing these glimpses into the artist's creative process added a profound layer of appreciation to the exhibition.

Whitney's vivid, color-rich abstractions provide a space for viewers to connect with the human experience, allowing for introspection and resilience. This traveling retrospective, the first comprehensive survey of Whitney’s work, highlights the full extent of his artistic achievements.

If you missed the presentation in Buffalo, your next chance to see this exhibition is when it travels to the Walker Art Center (11/14/24–03/16/25) and ICA/Boston (04/17/25–09/01/25).