America Is Hard to See at Whitney Museum of American Art, May 1 – September 27, 2015

Photographs by Corrado Serra.

“The Whitney Museum of American Art will open its new Renzo Piano designed home with an ambitious exhibition that reexamines the history of American art from 1900 to today.  America Is Hard to See presents new perspectives on the Whitney’s collection, reflecting on art in the United States with more than 600 works by some 400 artists. The exhibitionits title taken from a Robert Frost poem that was also used by the filmmaker Emile de Antonio for one of his political documentariesis the most extensive display to date of the Whitney’s collection.” — Whitney Museum of American Art

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John Storrs, Forms in Space #1, (c. 1924), Marble

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Sculptures: Left: Nancy Elizabeth, Prophet Congolais, (1931), Cherry. Right: Robert Laurent, The Flame, (c. 1917), Wood

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Marsden Hartley, Forms Abstracted, (1913) Oil on canvas, with wood frame

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Installation view: Floor 8

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Installation view: Floor 7. Center: Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, (1926-1931), Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps

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George Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo, (1924), Oil on canvas

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Installation view: Floor 7

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Left: John Chamberlain, Velvet White, (1962), Painted and chromium-plated steel. Center: Jackson Pollock, Number 27, 1950, Oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on canvas. Right: Arshile Gorky, The Betrothal, II, 1947, Oil and ink on canvas

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David Smith, Hudson River Landscape, (1951), Welded painted steel and stainless steel

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Edward Ruscha, Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights, 1962, Oil, house paint, ink, and graphite pencil on canvas

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James Rosenquist, Broome Street Trucks After Herman Melville, 1963, Oil on linen

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Installation view: Floor 6

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George Segal, Walk, Don’t Walk, (1976), Plaster, cement, metal, painted wood and electric light

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Eva Hesse, No title, (1969-1970), Latex, rope, string, and wire

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Left: Anne Truitt, Triad, 1977, Acrylic paint on wood. Center: David Novros, No Title, (1969), Automotive paint on molded fiberglass and resin, six parts. Right: Sol LeWitt, Wall Structure, (1965), Painted wood

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Installation view: Floor 6. Front: Donald Judd, Untitled, (1966), Painted steel

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Installation view: Floor 6

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Thomas Downing, Five, 1967, Acrylic on shaped canvas

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Background: Donald Moffett, He Kills Me, 1987, Offset lithograph. Front: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (We Don’t Need Another Hero), (1987), Photoscreenprint on vinyl

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Installation view: Floor 5

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Installation view: Floor 5

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Charles Ray, Boy, 1992, Painted fiberglass, steel, and fabric

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Paul Chan, 1st Light, (2005), Video installation, black-and-white and color, silent, 14 min

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Installation view: Floor 5. Center: David Hammons, Untitled, (1992), Human hair, wire, metallic mylar, sledge hammer, plastic beads, string, metal food tin, panty hose, leather, tea bags, and feathers

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Mike Kelley, More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid and The Wages of Sin, 1987, Stuffed fabric toys and afghans on canvas with dried corn; wax candles on wood and metal base

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Front: (Detail) Rachel Harrison, Claude Levi-Strauss, (2007), Wood, chicken wire, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, taxidermically preserved silver-laced Wyandotte hen and Black Minorca rooster with attached label and mount, USPS Priority Mail cardboard box, and Sharp UX-B20 Fax machine cardboard box. Back: (Detail) Mark Bradford, Bread and Circuses, 2007, Found paper, metal foil, acrylic, and string on canvas