THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Jack Whitten: The Messenger MARCH 23–AUGUST 2, 2025 at The Museum of Modern Art

Jack Whitten revolutionized what art can look like. Through his exploration of paint and pigment, and his ingenious application of tools and technologies—from Afro combs to electrostatic printing—Whitten created novel artistic processes. Through his unflinching confrontation with racial prejudice and technological change, he made art matter in a world in turmoil. Spanning nearly six decades, this exhibition is the first full retrospective of Whitten’s innovative practice, featuring more than 175 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that illuminate his singular vision.

Featuring numerous works that have never before been shown, Jack Whitten: The Messenger presents the artist’s revelatory exploration of culture, race, technology, jazz, love, and war. From the upheaval of the ’60s to the end of his life in 2018, Whitten faced great pressure to pursue representational art as a form of activism. Yet he dared to invent new forms of abstraction and, in the process, transformed the relationship between art, memory, and society.