Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon

Edited with introduction by Cathleen Chaffee. Foreword by Janne Sirén. Text by Kim Conaty, Ruth Erickson, Duro Olowu, Pavel S. Pys. Poetry by Norma Cole. Interview by Grégoire Lubineau.

The esteemed American painter Stanley Whitney has, for 50 years, created joyful, immersive abstractions characterized by a bold, experimental palette and unique rhythm. Over the last 20 years, he has structured his paintings as loose grids: a consistent framework that frees him to work through seemingly infinite painterly variations and allows viewers to focus not on each painting’s subject, but rather on our own response to color. These large-scale paintings are joined by improvisatory small paintings; drawings and prints, which constitute their own practice for Whitney; and the artist’s sketchbooks, which offer a view into Whitney’s engagement with the written word and politics.

This traveling North American exhibition is Whitney’s first museum survey, presenting 170 paintings and works on paper spanning from the 1970s to the present day. The catalog includes an introduction by exhibition organizer Cathleen Chaffee, scholarly explorations of the artist’s paintings and works on paper, a chronology and illustrations of all works in the exhibition.

Hardcover /10 x 11.25 in. / 296 pages / 278 color