The Whitney Museum of American Art is a game-changer when it comes to showcasing digital art. Whether you're visiting its galleries in New York City or exploring its online initiatives, the Whitney offers a fresh perspective on how art interacts with technology.

It programming asks important questions about the intersection of art and technology: What role does the internet play in shaping artistic expression? How do emerging technologies like AI, AR, and blockchain challenge traditional ideas of authorship and creativity?

With its pioneering exhibitions, innovative online platform Artport, and the visionary leadership of its digital art curator, Christiane Paul, the Whitney is not just keeping pace with the evolution of art — it’s setting the standard.

Digital Art Programming at The Whitney

The Whitney’s programming doesn’t just keep up with the times — it redefines them. Recent exhibitions have spotlighted groundbreaking artists and ideas that challenge how we think about technology and creativity.

Harold Cohen: AARON

One standout exhibition is Harold Cohen: AARON, which ran from February to May 2024. AARON is a pioneer in the world of artificial intelligence and art — a program created by Harold Cohen in the 1970s to mimic the artistic process. Long before tools like DALL-E or MidJourney existed, Cohen’s AARON was already generating art, questioning what it means to create.

This exhibition was more than just a trip down memory lane; it was a lens through which we can view today’s explosion of AI-generated art. Cohen’s work raises timeless questions: Is the artist the creator of the machine or the one who operates it? How do we define collaboration between humans and technology? These are themes we’re still wrestling with, and the Whitney provided a rich historical context to explore them.

Nancy Baker Cahill’s CENTO

Fast forward to October 2024, when the Whitney launched CENTO, a site-specific augmented reality (AR) experience by Nancy Baker Cahill. This digital artwork features a massive, fantastical creature that evolves based on audience interaction. Through Baker Cahill’s 4th Wall app, visitors can add feathers to the creature, watching it transform in real time.

The beauty of CENTO is how it merges physical and digital worlds. It’s not just about seeing something cool on your screen — it’s about participating in the creation of a shared digital space. The project exemplifies the Whitney’s knack for bringing people into the art-making process, democratizing what participation in art can look like.

Refigured

Then there’s Refigured, a collection of five installations including video, animation, sculpture, and augmented reality art. This exhibition, housed in the museum’s lobby gallery as a free and open to public showcase, explored what physicality means in a digitally dominated world.

Pondering on how technology shapes our bodies, relationships, and understanding of reality, the installation explored the concept of identity through interactions between digital and physical materiality. The artists played with both physical and virtual forms of art to convey the message.

Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018

Back in 2018, The Whitney’s exhibition Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 explored the interplay between art and systems of instruction over more than five decades. Bringing together works of conceptual, video, and computational art, the show highlighted how artists have harnessed programming — whether through rules, algorithms, or direct code — not just as a tool but as a central theme in their creations.

Drawing from the Whitney’s extensive collection, Programmed reflected on the early pioneers of computational art while tracing the evolution of these concepts in contemporary practices. At a time when automation increasingly defines our world, the exhibition examined how programmed systems in art both mirror and influence technological shifts, offering insights into the profound ways these frameworks have reshaped visual culture.

Whitney’s Online Gallery Space: Artport

The Whitney celebrates digital innovation with Artport, its online gallery space for net art and new media art commissions. Artport has been around since 2001, making it one of the earliest museum-led initiatives to treat the internet as a creative space. Artport is beyond just an online gallery, it serves as a living archive of creativity in the digital age.

Maya Man: A Realistic Day in My Life Living in New York City

One of Artport’s most recent projects is Maya Man’s A Realistic Day in My Life Living in New York City, part of the museum’s On the Hour series. The piece uses whitney.org as its canvas, activating every hour to disrupt and transform the website for 30 seconds.

Maya Man’s work taps into TikTok trends to explore how digital platforms shape our perceptions of daily life. It’s playful, relatable, and deeply engaging — an excellent example of how Artport commissions are bringing internet culture into the art world in thoughtful ways.

*Maya Man: A Realistic Day in My Life Living in New York City*

Christiane Paul

You can’t talk about digital art at the Whitney without mentioning Christiane Paul, the museum’s Curator of Digital Art. Paul has been a trailblazer in bringing digital art into the mainstream, not just at the Whitney but across the art world.

Her curatorial approach balances technical insight with an eye for cultural relevance. Her curations critique the complexities of hyper-technologized existence while offering glimpses of how art can reimagine those realities. They’re often powerful reminders that digital art isn’t just about flashy visuals — it’s a platform for critical thought and societal reflection.

Paul is also an advocate for the thoughtful integration of NFTs and blockchain technology in museum collections. While the NFT boom attracted plenty of speculators, Paul has focused on acquiring works that hold historical and artistic significance, not just monetary value.

Her influence extends beyond exhibitions; she’s shaping how museums think about digital art’s role in their collections and programming. Under her guidance, the Whitney has become a leader in this space, setting standards for how other institutions engage with technology-driven art.

The Whitney Museum of American Art

Finally, let’s take a step back and look at why the Whitney Museum itself is such an essential institution. Since its founding, the Whitney has been committed to showcasing the art of its time. Whether it’s modernism, abstract expressionism, or digital art, the museum has always been at the forefront of what’s new and exciting.

The Whitney’s focus on living American artists makes it unique among major museums. It’s not just about preserving history —it’s about shaping the future. And in today’s world, where technology and art are increasingly intertwined, the Whitney’s commitment to digital art feels particularly timely.