Christine Sun Kim’s groundbreaking exhibition “All Day All Night” at the Whitney Museum of American Art showcases her wide-ranging practice that explores sound and the complexities of communication in both American Sign Language (ASL) and written English. The show features works from 2011 to 2024, occupying the museum’s eighth-floor exhibition spaces, galleries on the third floor, and the first-floor lobby. Kim, who was born Deaf, began her journey at the Whitney as an educator in 2007, playing a crucial role in developing museum programs to support Deaf audience members and broaden access to the Whitney’s collection.
“Being an educator here at the Whitney had an effect on me as an artist,” said Kim, via an ASL interpreter, at a recent preview of the show. “Learning what I did here inspired me to go back to graduate school, which is how I got into sound and words.”
Notable pieces in the exhibition include the charcoal drawing “Degrees of My Deaf Rage in the Art World” and the detailed pie chart work, “Shit Hearing People Say to Me.” Other works include sound experiments where vibrating surfaces translate movements into visual marks, accompanied by performance videos. The curator, Jennie Goldstein, emphasized Kim’s relentless dedication to her artistic practice and her ability to share the Deaf experience with audiences in an accessible way.
“The exhibition considers core concerns such as the importance of family, community, and the complex negotiations of shared social spaces,” said Goldstein.
Christine Sun Kim’s artistic journey
Kim discussed her experience of the concept of “echo” at the preview: “Yes, it’s a sound, but it’s also a Deaf experience that we go through.
My interpreter right now is echoing back what I’m saying… My Deaf experience is very echo-y.”
The title “All Day All Night” refers to a recurring motif in Kim’s work—the visualizing of ASL signs for the sun moving over the horizon. This theme appears in her early drawings from 2012 and her recent canvases from 2023.
In addition to her artwork, Kim has also been selected as the first artist-in-residence at Roy Lichtenstein’s former home and studio on Washington Street, which was donated to the museum’s Independent Study Program. “Coming home does feel like an actual homecoming,” Kim noted. “I got here as an artist after beginning as an educator, and I am very touched and happy to be here.”
“Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night” is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art from February 8th through July 6th, 2025.
