Video: Artist Interview
Whiting Tennis on the Unconscious Line

Music Credit: "Dandelion" written and performed by Whiting Tennis

In this video, Tennis discusses his first experiences identifying as an artist and the intuitive decisions that often provide a starting point for his artwork. The "unconscious line" in his daily sketches lays the groundwork for Tennis's larger paintings and sculptures, which combine pop, cubist, and architectural influences.

Tennis's work often combines paint with woodblock prints cut to reference the surface texture of plywood, tree bark, or shingles. His work also incorporates repurposed materials, such as discarded wood, cardboard, concrete, plaster, paint, asphalt, and tar, embraced for their individual particularities and histories.

Opener 22 is the first solo museum show for Whiting Tennis, and includes sculpture, painting, drawing, and collage from the past twelve years. Organized by Ian Berry, Malloy Curator of the Tang Museum, in collaboration with the artist, the exhibition will also mark the debut of several new paintings and outdoor sculpture. The Opener series is made possible with the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts, the Overbrook Foundation, and the Friends of the Tang.