Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Khee II

Two rectangles in blue and red faded color appear on top of tan. The object appears almost water damaged or lined from the effects of the artists work.
© 1978 Jack Whitten.

Image actions

  • Two rectangles in blue and red faded color appear on top of tan. The object appears almost water damaged or lined from the effects of the artists work.

Date:

1978

Artist:

Jack Whitten
American, 1939-2018

About this artwork

In the early 1960s, as a young student in New York, Jack Whitten established ties with an older generation of black artists that included Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence, as well as with leading Abstract Expressionists such as Willem de Kooning, Ad Reinhardt, and Franz Kline. During the second half of the decade, Whitten began working toward an entirely unique relationship to painting that he described in this way: “About 1965 I wrote on my studio wall one day, the image is photographic; I must photograph my thoughts.” By 1970 the artist had eliminated both expressive color and figuration from his work, launching a ten-year series of paintings that capture, like a camera, the often chance-based immediacies of his dynamic studio process.

Khee II exhibits all the hallmarks of Whitten’s mature process-derived paintings. As with other works from this period, the artist placed a variety of flat, shaped objects beneath the canvas. After preparing the surface with gesso, he layered it with thin sheets of colored Japanese rice paper. The rice paper dissolved, leaving behind pure pigment. Whitten then pulled a rake or other notched tool—which he calls a “developer,” in obvious reference to a photographer’s chemicals—across the work’s surface. This served both to impress the shapes from below, effectively embossing the canvas, and to disperse color on top of it. The result is a series of ghostlike images and alternating rows of color that vibrate with subtle luminosity. This is a glowing evocative abstract painting that is also a layer-by-layer document of its own making.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Jack Whitten

Title

Khee II

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1978

Medium

Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

182.9 × 213.4 cm (72 × 84 in.)

Credit Line

Contemporary Art Discretionary Fund; through prior purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Solomon B. Smith; through prior gift of Michael Abrams; Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize Fund; purchased with funds provided by Denise Gardner; Max V. Kohnstamm, N. W. Harris, William H. Bartles, and Laura Slobe Memorial purchase prize funds

Reference Number

2013.123

Copyright

© 1978 Jack Whitten.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share