Jack Whitten: Notes from the Woodshed

When it was originally published in 2018, Notes from the Woodshed marked the first time that a book had been devoted to the writings of pioneering American artist Jack Whitten. Edited by art historian Katy Siegel, this new edition of the celebrated publication now presents a fully transcribed collection of Whitten’s insightful, searching writings, alongside a new afterword in the form of a conversation between curators Matilde Guidelli-Guidi and Zoé Whitley and artist Glenn Ligon.

Widely renowned for his experimental approach to painting, Whitten often turned to writing as away to investigate, understand, and grapple with his practice and his milieu. Taking its title from the heading that Whitten scrawled across many of his texts—a term borrowed from the world of jazz that means “to practice in private”—Notes from the Woodshed is a fascinating, intimate insight into an artist at work.