As we mark our 20^th Anniversary in 2018, WhiteBox will present a series of exhibitions celebrating the spirit of international collaboration that has guided our programming for the past two decades. The series, “EXODUS: Émigré Artists and the New York Vanguard,” will showcase the cultural contributions of artists who have immigrated to New York City in search of new artistic communities, freedom of expression, the exchange of ideas, and greater visibility. The series will focus on artists from many countries or regions—such as China, Japan, Mexico and Latin America, and former Yugoslavia—who have lived in New York City, many of whom still reside here today. As a global art hub and international crossroads, New York has long been venerated as a melting pot of cultures and ideas. This series will explore the role of artists from these four regions—all lying outside of the traditional Western art historical canon—in changing the cultural landscape and course of artistic expression.

Each exhibition will be organized by curators with specific expertise in the area of focus, with WhiteBox artistic Director Juan Puntes curating the China-focus exhibition, independent curator Kyoko Sato for Japan, WhiteBox Curatorial Advisors Blanca de la Torre and Raúl Zamudio for Mexico and Latin America, and the former Yugoslavia portion curated by WhiteBox Director of  International Programming Lara Pan, in collaboration with museum curators from across the region. The selection is not intended to be a definitive account of the diverse artistic communities in NYC, but reflects WhiteBox’s long-standing relationships with curators and institutions in the international community.

We aim to tease out the historical circumstances—political, social, economic—that spurred artists to migrate to New York, and the various aesthetic, conceptual, philosophical, and spiritual ideas that they brought with them and incorporated into their work. The overarching ethos of this series is one of exchange and collaboration, illuminating the rich and lasting influences made by artists from abroad, as well as the transformative nature of New York City and its myriad communities and ideas on artistic practice.

EXODUS I: A Colossal World: Japanese Artists And New York, 1950S – Present
EXODUS II: Unhinging the Great Wall: Chinese Art Revealed, East Village NY, 1980s
EXODUS III : Mexico In New York: From Orozco To Orozco
EXODUS IV: Loy Luo: The Other I (The Me In Others)
EXODUS V: Aesthetics In The Political
EXODUS VI: Good Trouble
EXODUS VII: JMA Intersectional Matriarchive
EXODUS VIII: Off The Cloth
EXODUS IX: Extracting the Rêve from Revolution

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.