b. Philadelphia 1946

Drawing influence from a range of sources, including Abstract Expressionism and his African-American heritage, Stanley Whitney produces abstract paintings focused on color. In inexhaustible variations, Whitney organizes blocks of colors into grids that fill the canvas. He likens his process to the call and response flow of traditional African- American music, explaining: “I start at the top and work down. That gets into call and response. One color calls forth another. Color dictates the structure, not the other way around.” Whitney’s work is included in public collections around the world, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, KA, USA; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, USA; and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA.

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