Buckeyes Give: Top impact stories from 2023-24

Assistant Professor Dionne Lee and Associate Professor Carmen Winant have been selected for the 2024 Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial. One of the most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions, the Biennial presents the work of contemporary artists working across media and disciplines, representing evolving notions of American art. Winant holds the Roy Lichtenstein Chair in Studio Art in the Department of Art and Lee, jointly appointed in Art and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, joined the faculty just this past autumn. 

Dana Renga, dean of arts and humanities was delighted to learn Lee and Winant were chosen. “Both professors have highly productive and exceptional careers and this well-deserved honor celebrates two extraordinary artists whose important work is at the center of important conversations about power, autonomy, and gender (Winant) and landscape, memory, and history (Lee),” said Renga.

Organized by curators Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli, the 81st edition of the show titled, Even Better Than the Real Thing focuses on ideas of “the real” to acknowledge that, today, society is at an inflection point, in part brought on by artificial intelligence challenging what we consider to be real, as well as critical discussions about identity. Though the biennial survey has historically focused mainly on American artists, this year about 28 percent of the cohort hails from outside the US.

“Only 69 individual artists from around the world were chosen for the 2024 Whitney Biennial. That two of them came from faculty in the department of art at Ohio State is extraordinary—and a real testament to the quality of our programs. Across the arts, we are doing work that is important, exciting, and, significantly, being noticed by art professionals in major cultural venues,” said Lisa Florman, vice provost for the arts.