• WHITNEY OLDENBURG

    Ticket to Paradise

     
    November 3, 2023 - January 6, 2024
  • CHART is pleased to present Ticket to Paradise, a solo exhibition by Whitney Oldenburg. Featuring new sculptural works and drawings, this is Oldenburg’s first solo show in New York. The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, November 3, from 6–8pm, and remain on view through January 6, 2024.
  • Irresistibly unusual at first blush, Oldenburg’s works are often crafted from familiar ephemera, inspired by one’s relationship to everyday objects and the many hands that went into their making. Critical of capitalism’s spurious suggestion that a newly purchased item will serve as a salve for psychological strife, to say nothing of the immense waste generated in the process, Oldenburg transforms redundant objects into sculptural protests that embody the existential environmental and economic crises that pervade our present moment.
  • Whitney Oldenburg Feeding Frenzy, 2022 tickets, rock, wood, aluminum, resin, string, staples, helmets, ear plugs, cloth, zipper pulls, red yeast...

    Whitney Oldenburg

    Feeding Frenzy, 2022

    tickets, rock, wood, aluminum, resin, string, staples, helmets, ear plugs, cloth, zipper pulls, red yeast rice, glue mixture

    72 x 96 x 18 in

    $18,000

    Enquire
  • Feeding Frenzy, created from thousands of token red tickets enmeshed in resin and assembled into writhing, churning tendrils, speaks to a gnawing psychological component of escapist consumption; even diversionary entertainment in the form of tourism, Hollywood, or screen time, comes with its own implicational consequences of exploitation, wastefulness, and distraction.
    • Whitney Oldenburg High Tide, 2023 molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin 60 x 51 x 28 in $18,000

      Whitney Oldenburg

      High Tide, 2023

      molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin

      60 x 51 x 28 in

      $18,000
      ENQUIRE
    • Whitney Oldenburg Hopes and Dreams, 2023 molds of air filters, clay, steel, string, resin, credit cards 73 x 48 1/2 x 7 in $15,000
      Whitney Oldenburg
      Hopes and Dreams, 2023
      molds of air filters, clay, steel, string, resin, credit cards
      73 x 48 1/2 x 7 in
      $15,000
      ENQUIRE
  • In 1987, Barbara Kruger used the graphic phrase "I shop therefore I am" to implicate the consumer. While Whitney Oldenburg's sculptures are less explicit, they embody the phrase "I consume therefore I am."

    Whether it's through breathing the air, taking medication, devouring entertainment, or being attached to a smartphone, Oldenburg speaks to the rampant consumption in contemporary society on a physiological, emotional, and psychological level.
    • Whitney Oldenburg Blue Bennu, 2023 metal, string, wood, resin, clay, rock, matches 30 x 24 x 12 in $6,800
      Whitney Oldenburg
      Blue Bennu, 2023
      metal, string, wood, resin, clay, rock, matches
      30 x 24 x 12 in
      $6,800
      Enquire
    • Whitney Oldenburg Apex Predator, 2023 wood, clay, resin, juggling pins, cell phone cases, suede, necklaces, rock, resin 35 x 33 x 15 in $6,800

      Whitney Oldenburg

      Apex Predator, 2023

      wood, clay, resin, juggling pins, cell phone cases, suede, necklaces, rock, resin

      35 x 33 x 15 in

      $6,800
      Enquire
    • Fade, 2023 remote controls, clay, cloth, paper, slide projector, resin 34 x 27 x 14 in 86.4 x 68.6 x 35.6 cm $6,800
      Fade, 2023
      remote controls, clay, cloth, paper, slide projector, resin
      34 x 27 x 14 in
      86.4 x 68.6 x 35.6 cm
      $6,800
      Enquire

  • Oldenburg's drawings are quick and contrast the elaborately built and carefully garnished sculptures. If one is looking to attribute references, they could be described as observational drawings depicting the organic material growing in the warm confines of a petri dish or as quicker versions of early Ellsworth Kelly drawings. But most simply look like material studies, investigations into basic abstract patterns and motifs that also resemble coral polyps. And, of course, the drawings, humming with invention, are also inspirations for Oldenburg's sculptures.

     

    - Excerpt from Michelle Grabner's essay, "Whitney Oldenburg: Perpetually Adaptive"

  • About the artist

    Whitney Oldenburg obtained her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and graduated with her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design....
    Whitney Oldenburg in her studio, 2023
    Photo: Elisabeth Bernstein

    Whitney Oldenburg obtained her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and graduated with her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Whitney is the recipient of Cornell University's Charles Baskerville Scholarship, the Virginia Commonwealth University Fountainhead Fellowship, the Toby Devan Lewis Award, and the Maharam Steam Fellowship. She is a practicing artist and has exhibited her work in New York City, Chicago, Richmond, Houston, and Ottawa. Whitney has also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The Atlantic Center for the Arts with Michelle Grabner, and is currently part of The Elizabeth Foundation Studio Program. Her work has been written about in Hyperallergic, Wall Street Journal, and New American Paintings.