In her performances, videos, and installations, Sharon Hayes (b. 1970) explores the nexus between politics, history, speech, and desire. Her works modify or appropriate the language and tools of political dissent, creating unexpected affinities between important historical events and the present. Highlighted in this volume is the video installation Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29 (2003)—a work in which Hayes memorized the famous taped speeches by Patty Hearst and her kidnappers, the leftist radical group the Symbionese Liberation Army, and then reads them to an audience who corrects her mistakes. It is in these slippages between memory and history that the meaning of Hayes's work resides. This book also includes a group of new site-specific works that addresses the Whitney's role in the historic development of process-based, performative art and its engagement with politics that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s.This book serves as document of Hayes’s thinking process, featuring original contributions from Hayes and some two-dozen other writers, artists, and activists, which provide insight into the motivations and development of her projects.  The catalogue includes images carefully selected by the artist—photographs, vinyl LP covers, fliers, images of Hayes’s own work—and a short text response by each of the contributors. Contributors include: Dennis Adams, Lauren Berlant, Saramina Berman, Claire Bishop, Juli Carson, Kabir Carter, Christhian Diaz, Saeed Taji Farouky, Malik Gaines, Andrea Geyer, Leah Gilliam, Michela Griffo, Sharon Hayes, Holly Hughes, Chrissie Iles, Iman Issa, Hans Kuzmich, Cristobal Lehyt, Ralph Lemon, Brooke O’Harra, Jenni Olson, Dean Spade, Lynne Tillman, What, How & For Whom/WHW, Craig Willse.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art(06/21/12–09/09/12)

A fascinating survey of pioneering work in experimental cinema and art from 1905 to the present day, revealing the high stakes and transformative potential of these formsThis generously illustrated publication surveys the work of filmmakers and artists who have pushed the material and conceptual boundaries of cinema. Over the past century, the material, optical, abstract, spatial, and tactile properties of film have been tested at a level of experimentation and utopian ambition that is generally unrecognized. Whether creating synesthetic or 3-D environments, projective or non-projective installations, generations of leading-edge artists have explored how technology transforms experience.  The essays published here offer an intensive look at the themes of cinematic space, formats of the screen, animation and CGI, the body and the cyborg, and the materiality of film. Contributors place particular emphasis on the idea of the cinema as a sensorium and on the ways in which it defines the human body, both through representation and in relation to the projected image. An immersive plate section brings together rarely seen and previously unpublished stills, in addition to concept drawings from historic and contemporary films.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art, New York(10/28/16–02/05/17)

A companion to the Whitney’s signature exhibition, featuring artists who are shaping the conversation about contemporary art in the United States today  Since its introduction in 1932, the Whitney Biennial has charted new developments in contemporary art. Amid ongoing upheavals in cultural, social, and political spheres, this catalogue offers an engaging new take on the storied institution of the Biennial while continuing to serve, as all previous editions have, as an invaluable resource about art in the United States today.  The curators of the 2024 Whitney Biennial, Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli, are both known for genre-defying, boundary-pushing thematic exhibitions A thematically organized image section reflecting the work of artists in the Biennial will be followed by entries about each artist—an approach that will encourage readers to draw connections between the work of different artists. A collaborative essay by Iles and Onli will present their thinking behind the exhibition, while essays by curators and scholars Eva Hayward and Amber Jamilla Musser will surface specific themes.  Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art  Exhibition Schedule:  Whitney Museum of American Art, New York(March 27–August 18, 2024)

The most comprehensive and up-to-date monograph available on the work of celebrated artist Lorna Simpson, a trailblazer who continues to influence and inspire Lorna Simpson is a multimedia artist known for her pioneering approach to conceptual photography. In 1993 Simpson was the first African-American woman ever to show in the Venice Biennale and to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.This landmark book documents Simpson’s career in its entirety, up to her most recent work - Simpson’s portrait of Rihanna for the January 2021 cover of Essence has been deemed as one of the most iconic fashion images ever made by a panel of experts in The New York Magazine.In doing so, it sheds light on the remarkable path that Simpson paved to global critical acclaim and art-world stardom. The first edition of this sell-out volume has been thoroughly revised and updated, including a new essay by Guggenheim Deputy Director Naomi Beckwith.

This is the first publication to explore the role of mirrors, spinning, and “neurotic” architecture––a feeling of psychological breakdown––in the work of one of America’s most important contemporary artists, Paul McCarthy (b. 1945). The book is published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Whitney, for which McCarthy is creating two new installations to appear alongside his Bang Bang Room (1992) and two recently rediscovered film loops (1966, 1971).  Each work involves a room structure that the viewer can step into and experience—often becoming disoriented as either the floor or entire structure spins, or as walls fold inward and outward. By comparing McCarthy’s use of rotational movement and visual effects to that of other artists of the 1960s and 1970s, the author seeks a new understanding of this bold innovator. An interview with McCarthy himself offers an unprecedented discussion of the influences on his art—including experimental filmmakers Stan Brakhage, Stan Vanderbeek, and Bruce Conner. The book not only raises new points but also recovers information and images from films once lost.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art (June 26 – October 12, 2008)

In her performances, videos, and installations, Sharon Hayes (b. 1970) explores the nexus between politics, history, speech, and desire. Her works modify or appropriate the language and tools of political dissent, creating unexpected affinities between important historical events and the present. Highlighted in this volume is the video installation Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29 (2003)—a work in which Hayes memorized the famous taped speeches by Patty Hearst and her kidnappers, the leftist radical group the Symbionese Liberation Army, and then reads them to an audience who corrects her mistakes. It is in these slippages between memory and history that the meaning of Hayes's work resides. This book also includes a group of new site-specific works that addresses the Whitney's role in the historic development of process-based, performative art and its engagement with politics that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s.This book serves as document of Hayes’s thinking process, featuring original contributions from Hayes and some two-dozen other writers, artists, and activists, which provide insight into the motivations and development of her projects.  The catalogue includes images carefully selected by the artist—photographs, vinyl LP covers, fliers, images of Hayes’s own work—and a short text response by each of the contributors. Contributors include: Dennis Adams, Lauren Berlant, Saramina Berman, Claire Bishop, Juli Carson, Kabir Carter, Christhian Diaz, Saeed Taji Farouky, Malik Gaines, Andrea Geyer, Leah Gilliam, Michela Griffo, Sharon Hayes, Holly Hughes, Chrissie Iles, Iman Issa, Hans Kuzmich, Cristobal Lehyt, Ralph Lemon, Brooke O’Harra, Jenni Olson, Dean Spade, Lynne Tillman, What, How & For Whom/WHW, Craig Willse.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art(06/21/12–09/09/12)

A fascinating survey of pioneering work in experimental cinema and art from 1905 to the present day, revealing the high stakes and transformative potential of these formsThis generously illustrated publication surveys the work of filmmakers and artists who have pushed the material and conceptual boundaries of cinema. Over the past century, the material, optical, abstract, spatial, and tactile properties of film have been tested at a level of experimentation and utopian ambition that is generally unrecognized. Whether creating synesthetic or 3-D environments, projective or non-projective installations, generations of leading-edge artists have explored how technology transforms experience.  The essays published here offer an intensive look at the themes of cinematic space, formats of the screen, animation and CGI, the body and the cyborg, and the materiality of film. Contributors place particular emphasis on the idea of the cinema as a sensorium and on the ways in which it defines the human body, both through representation and in relation to the projected image. An immersive plate section brings together rarely seen and previously unpublished stills, in addition to concept drawings from historic and contemporary films.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art, New York(10/28/16–02/05/17)

A companion to the Whitney’s signature exhibition, featuring artists who are shaping the conversation about contemporary art in the United States today  Since its introduction in 1932, the Whitney Biennial has charted new developments in contemporary art. Amid ongoing upheavals in cultural, social, and political spheres, this catalogue offers an engaging new take on the storied institution of the Biennial while continuing to serve, as all previous editions have, as an invaluable resource about art in the United States today.  The curators of the 2024 Whitney Biennial, Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli, are both known for genre-defying, boundary-pushing thematic exhibitions A thematically organized image section reflecting the work of artists in the Biennial will be followed by entries about each artist—an approach that will encourage readers to draw connections between the work of different artists. A collaborative essay by Iles and Onli will present their thinking behind the exhibition, while essays by curators and scholars Eva Hayward and Amber Jamilla Musser will surface specific themes.  Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art  Exhibition Schedule:  Whitney Museum of American Art, New York(March 27–August 18, 2024)

The most comprehensive and up-to-date monograph available on the work of celebrated artist Lorna Simpson, a trailblazer who continues to influence and inspire Lorna Simpson is a multimedia artist known for her pioneering approach to conceptual photography. In 1993 Simpson was the first African-American woman ever to show in the Venice Biennale and to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.This landmark book documents Simpson’s career in its entirety, up to her most recent work - Simpson’s portrait of Rihanna for the January 2021 cover of Essence has been deemed as one of the most iconic fashion images ever made by a panel of experts in The New York Magazine.In doing so, it sheds light on the remarkable path that Simpson paved to global critical acclaim and art-world stardom. The first edition of this sell-out volume has been thoroughly revised and updated, including a new essay by Guggenheim Deputy Director Naomi Beckwith.

This is the first publication to explore the role of mirrors, spinning, and “neurotic” architecture––a feeling of psychological breakdown––in the work of one of America’s most important contemporary artists, Paul McCarthy (b. 1945). The book is published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Whitney, for which McCarthy is creating two new installations to appear alongside his Bang Bang Room (1992) and two recently rediscovered film loops (1966, 1971).  Each work involves a room structure that the viewer can step into and experience—often becoming disoriented as either the floor or entire structure spins, or as walls fold inward and outward. By comparing McCarthy’s use of rotational movement and visual effects to that of other artists of the 1960s and 1970s, the author seeks a new understanding of this bold innovator. An interview with McCarthy himself offers an unprecedented discussion of the influences on his art—including experimental filmmakers Stan Brakhage, Stan Vanderbeek, and Bruce Conner. The book not only raises new points but also recovers information and images from films once lost.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art (June 26 – October 12, 2008)