Jack Whitten’s artistic journey was shaped by his experiences in the segregated South, which ultimately led him to abandon traditional representation and explore abstraction. According to Julie Mehretu, an artist who considers Whitten a messenger of liberation through art, his dedication to abstraction allowed him to find freedom from societal constraints. Mehretu notes that Whitten’s work often explores light, reflecting its omnipresent reality and universal aspect in our collective existence.
Whitten’s obsession with light set him apart from his peers, as he was committed to painting and abstraction. Critics have been skeptical of his wish for a different form of the political in painting, but Mehretu argues that this skepticism stems from cultural illiteracy. Whitten confronted tumultuous times through his art, using works like “Dead Reckoning I” (1980) as a means to articulate unspoken experiences.
In an era where representation and universality are being reevaluated, Mehretu finds solace in Whitten’s cosmic abstraction. She recalls John Coltrane’s journey of discovery, as he searched for the collective experience through various instruments and cultures. Similarly, Whitten experimented with abstraction, using his base and values in the Black radical tradition to create a portal to the collective.
Throughout his work, Mehretu observes Whitten’s idea of light shining out constantly – omnipresent and everywhere. As an artist who embodies liberation, Whitten’s art remains a beacon for those seeking universalism as a saving belief in the face of inhumanity.
Source: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1198