2012 Whitney Biennial List Released: Includes Former Braddock Native LaToya Ruby Frazier

I still can never get, why this single show, in a moderately sized NY museum is still considered the standard survey of the new, cutting edge and important in what is now such a vast interconnected world.

"The Whitney Biennial is an exhibition held every two years in which the Museum gauges the current state of contemporary art in America." Fat chance. At best it' gives some insight into what the small clique of curators feel is hot.

Even so, here is the list of 2012 Biennial artists.

Kai Althoff
Thom Andersen
Charles Atlas
Lutz Bacher
Forrest Bess
(by Robert Gober)
Michael Clark
Dennis Cooper and
Gisèle Vienne
Cameron Crawford
Moyra Davey
Liz Deschenes
Nathaniel Dorsky
Nicole Eisenman
Kevin Jerome
Everson
Vincent Fecteau
Andrea Fraser
LaToya Ruby
Frazier
Vincent Gallo
K8 Hardy
Richard Hawkins
Werner Herzog
Jerome Hiler
Matt Hoyt
Dawn Kasper
Mike Kelley
John Kelsey
John Knight
Jutta Koether
George Kuchar
Laida Lertxundi
Kate Levant
Sam Lewitt
Joanna Malinowska
Andrew Masullo
Nick Mauss
Richard Maxwell
Sarah Michelson
Alicia Hall Moran and
Jason Moran
Laura Poitras
Matt Porterfield
Luther Price
Lucy Raven
The Red Krayola
Kelly Reichardt
Elaine Reichek
Michael Robinson
Georgia Sagri
Michael E. Smith
Tom Thayer
Wu Tsang
Oscar Tuazon
Frederick Wiseman

As usual, a few like Robert Gober, Mike Kelly and Nicole Eisenman are very established artists. The general flavor from what I have read and the few names, I recognize is a strong tilt towards work that blurs categories-lots of performance, film (Werner Herzog), photography, protest, etc...

LaToya Ruby Frazier, who for the last three years or so has lived in the NY area is on the list. It will be interesting to see what she does.