Art Basel’s ‘Meet the artists’ series presents contemporary creatives shaping today’s cultural landscape

Delve into the world of painter Stanley Whitney during a visit to his studio, set amid pines on Long Island, New York. In this episode of ‘Meet the artists’, he discusses his painting practice and the influences that have shaped his work. Whitney places special significance on his time in Rome and Egypt in the 1990s, where monumental architecture transformed his understanding of space and density. ‘When I went to Egypt, when I looked at the Pantheon, they had pillars that were 12 tons,’ he says in the film. ‘I got a real sense of density, and that was the last key to the puzzle I needed to make my work.’

Titles also play a significant role in his art. ‘I make a painting and then I try to figure out what it is. It’s almost like with some of my titles I can figure out who I was,’ Whitney says. His approach is elemental and complex, aiming to address ‘what it is to be human.’

Stanley Whitney is represented by Gagosian (New York, Basel, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, Paris, Rome) and Galerie Nordenhake (Berlin, Mexico City, Stockholm). He also collaborates with Two Palms (New York).