Houston-Born Artist Charisse Pearlina Weston Included in 2024 Whitney Biennial

The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the 71 artists and collectives participating in its 2024 Biennial this spring, including Houston-born artist Charisse Pearlina Weston.

The biennial was launched in 1932 by the museum’s founder, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. In 1937 the exhibition switched to an annual format, which it maintained until 1973 when it became a biennial again. Over the past 92 years, more than 3,600 artists have participated in the invitational exhibition. In 2022, Houston’s Rick Lowe was among the 63 artists invited to participate in the biennial. 

This year’s biennial, titled Even Better Than The Real Thing, is organized by Whitney staffers Chrissie Iles, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Curator, and Meg Onli, Curator at Large, with support from Min Sun Jeon and Beatriz Cifuentes. On the Whitney Biennial webpage, the curators noted, “After finalizing the list of artists last summer, we have built a thematic Biennial that focuses on the ideas of ‘the real.’ Society is at an inflection point around this notion, in part brought on by artificial intelligence challenging what we consider to be real, as well as critical discussions about identity.”

Though currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Charisse Pearlina Weston is a Houston native and maintains strong connections to the city. Last summer, the City of Houston unveiled a public art monument created by Ms. Weston and Jamal Cyrus. Ms. Weston holds an MFA in Studio Art with Critical Theory Emphasis from the University of California in Irvine, an MS in Modern Art: History, Curating, and Criticism from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and a BA in Art History from the University of North Texas in Denton. 

Charisse Pearlina Weston. Photo courtesy of the artist.

In addition to being included in the 2024 Biennial, this year Ms. Weston has several significant opportunities on the horizon. She has been awarded a $50,000 Wild Futures grant from Creative Capital, and was named as a Chinati Foundation Artist-in-Residence.

Even Better Than The Real Thing will open on Wednesday, March 20. Learn more about the 2024 Whitney Biennial and see a full list of participating artists on the Whitney’s website.