Ursula

Films

Third Space

On “The Theater of Refusal” and the 1993 Whitney Biennial and their place in the present

  • 15 April 2024
  • Films by Jed Moch

On the occasion of “RETROaction,” an exhibition presented in two parts at Hauser & Wirth New York and Los Angeles, Ursula presents a pair of films that look back at two seminal shows from 1993: the Whitney Biennial and “The Theater of Refusal,” organized by Charles Gaines and Catherine Lord at the University of California, Irvine.

Featuring Homi K. Bhabha, Kate Fowle, Charles Gaines, Thelma Golden, Zoe Leonard, Lisa Phillips, David Ross, Gary Simmons, Elisabeth Sussman and Ellen Tani.

It makes you rethink both the now and the then. But what happens when they come together is that it takes you elsewhere. It takes you to a third space. It makes other issues and questions visible.”—Homi K. Bhabha

Third Space: Reflections on the 1993 Whitney Biennial, 2024

“Quite often creating change means you are working in the present day, but you’re actually working in the future.”—Thelma Golden

Gary Simmons, Wall of Eyes, 1993, in the 1993 Biennial Exhibition. © Gary Simmons. Photo: Geoffrey Clements. Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art Archives

Daniel J. Martinez, Museum Tags: Second Movement (Overture) or Overture con Claque—Overture with Hired Audience Members, 1993, in the 1993 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art. © Daniel J. Martinez

RETROaction (part two)” is on view at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles through May 5, 2024. “RETROaction” was presented at Hauser & Wirth's New York’s 69th Street location from November 15, 2023 through January 27, 2024.