Whitney Biennial 2012: Inside-Outside Politics and the Breuer Building

The 2012 Whitney Biennial, curated by Jay Sanders and Elisabeth Sussman, focused on physical presence and the construction of inside and outside within the museum. The Breuer building served as the sole site, a departure from previous off-site works. Key works included Oscar Tuazon's 'For Hire', which was later reconfigured for a K8 Hardy fashion show; Nick Mauss's 'Concern, Crush, Desire', referencing Christian Bérard; and Robert Gober's installation of Forrest Bess's paintings alongside documentation of his self-performed surgery. Dawn Kasper lived in the museum for 'This Could Be Something if I Let It'. Mike Kelley's 'Mobile Homestead' video documented a replica of his childhood home used as a community gallery in Detroit. Wu Tsang's 'Wildness' and 'Green Room' explored LGBT safe spaces. The Occupy movement staged a fake press release on whitney2012.org, calling for the museum to close on May Day (which it did, but because it was a Tuesday). The biennial was the penultimate in the Breuer building before the museum's move downtown in 2015. The essay was published by Afterall on July 27, 2012.