Robert Whitman, a pioneering artist known for his contributions to performance and multimedia installation, has died at the age of 88. His death was confirmed by the Pace Gallery, which states that he passed away on January 19.
Born in 1935, Whitman pushed the boundaries of multimedia art. Often collaborating with engineers and scientists to implement technology in his installations and performances, the artist has led several movements that have elevated experimentation in the visual arts.
Whitman’s career was marked by his prominent role in the “Happenings” performances, a performance art movement in the 1950s and 1960s where artists and audience members participated in unplanned, often spontaneous and interactive events. He has collaborated with notable artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Allan Kaprow, Jim Dine and Red Grooms. In 1967, Whitman co-founded the arts organization Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT) with Robert Rauschenberg, fostering partnerships between artists and engineers. In 1967, his first solo exhibition with Pace, titled “Robert Whitman: Dark,” featured innovative laser installations created in collaboration with engineer Eric Rawson.
One of Whitman’s best-known performances, “American Moon,” premiered in 1960 at the Reuben Gallery in New York. This performance, characterized by its integration of flashes of light, darkness, film projections and sounds, was later revived in 2023 at Pace’s gallery in New York. Whitman was also known for his perspective on theater as a time-based art form, viewing time as a material similar to paint or plaster.
Whitman’s work appears in major public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
