Counting Sheep
September 9, 2026
INFINITE TRANSFER – Vladimir Dubossarsky
October 12, 2026
Curated by Juan Puntes
Since 2004, WhiteBox has pursued a biannual public-facing commitment to contemporary art. WhiteBox Portable @ MTA invites local artists and those from around the world to respond to one of democracy’s oldest traditions—and one of its newest spectacles: election season.
Every two years, the republic develops a peculiar itch. WhiteBox takes its pulse and chronicles the scratching, while artists offer the cool compress. Candidates scratch it. Pollsters scratch it. Journalists scratch it. Pundits scratch it. Donors scratch it. Citizens scratch it. Commuters move through it. Passersby catch it. The media scratches it until it bleeds.
Election Day arrives, and the itch simply migrates.
Artists: Jenny Polak / Brian Bellott / Amy Stoker / Gregory Sholette / Marni Kotak / Rirkrit Tiravanija / Tomás Vu / Eleni Mylonas / Noah Fischer / Arlene Rush / Paolo Javier / David Mason / Sulic Susana / Mac Adams / Moez Surani / Nina Leo / Paul Pissarro / Jesse Do / Church of Conceptual Art / Annabel Daou / Christoph Draeger / Nelson Andres Gallardo / Theresa Byrnes / Jim Costanzo / Joyce Raimondo / Jason File / Marie Christine Katz / David Borawski / Anna McNeary / Craig Kane / Patricia Dahlman / Jan Arlt / Maggie Reilly / Aileen Bassis / Mike Estabrook / Lori Ortiz / Frank Saïssi / Susan Hoeltzel / Eldon Garnett / Cris Gianakos / Julia Justo / Robert Ladislas Derr / Anki King / Barbara Rosenthal / Ellen Alt / Kristen Danckert / Mike Petrakis / Lili White / Caroline McManus / Tamara Garvey / David Smith / Sharon Kagan / Sheryl Oring / Avelino Sala / Eugenio Merino
Brian Bellott. Mixed Media, Collage and Acrylic. 14 x 15 in. 2008
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the republic, TIGHTROPE: THE MIDTERM ITCH explores democracy through satire, irony, humor, metaphor, caricature, and poetic imagination. The exhibition is not about Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. It is about democracy itself: its rituals, contradictions, spectacles, anxieties, resilience, and the extraordinary challenge of keeping a republic in balance.
Inspired by the tradition of political satire—from Francisco de Goya and Honoré Daumier to José Guadalupe Posada, George Grosz, Otto Dix, Barbara Kruger, Federico Solmi, and Equipo Crónica—the exhibition brings together works that reveal the theater of contemporary civic life rather than advocate for parties or candidates.
Marni Kotak. “Dancing in the Oval Office” Performance Memento #1. 2019. 16" × 24". Giclée print from 161 hour Durational Performance/Installation. Archivally framed in a gold wooden frame with museum glass. (Edition of 5)
Every election begins with a small bite: a grievance, a headline, a scandal, a rumor, or a promise. We scratch. It feels satisfying for a moment. Soon, the wound becomes larger than the bite itself. Satire is not another fingernail; it is the cool compress. It interrupts the reflex to scratch, inviting us instead to examine the bite, understand it, and perhaps even laugh at it. Democracy does not need less disagreement. It needs fewer infected wounds.
Presented at WhiteBox Portable @ MTA, one of New York City’s busiest public art venues, the exhibition transforms the daily commute into an unexpected encounter with contemporary art, where hundreds of thousands of passersby become part of the conversation.
Noah Fischer. The-Pressed. 10x14 in. Watercolor, Pen and Ink on D’Arches paper. 2026
David B. Smith, “Not for Sale,” cross-stitch, artist frame. 2026. 7 × 7"
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