WHITNEY BEDFORD

Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings by Whitney Bedford, on view at 511 West 22nd Street from 14 May through 20 June 2026. The exhibition is accompanied by a digital catalogue with an essay by Aandrea Stang.

Bedford’s ongoing Veduta series, begun in 2019, brings historical painted vistas often taken from male landscape painters of the pre-industrial age into dialogue with contemporary Southern California. The landscape sets the stage, referencing familiar scenes from Camille Pissarro, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. Through the layering of floral, cacti, and window motifs, Bedford distinguishes between historical and modern eras, creating a space where the tension between them can reside within a single composition.

In the most recent works, these paintings take the form of sunset-toned grounds over which Bedford introduces neon-hued details specific to Southern California, including mid-century modern architecture and Mexican fan palms. Critic Aandrea Stang has described these forms as “injured, yet quiet and reflective,” their intensity heightened by saturated color. The resulting fiery palette suggests heat and light emanating from within the paintings themselves.

Having lived in Southern California for many years, Bedford maintains a deeply personal connection to the region, shaped in part by firsthand experience of its destructive wildfires. Bedford shares that the paintings “stand as psychological portraits of turbulent times, sirens from the frontline of climate change.” By returning to the historical landscape as a central and recurring theme, one that actively engages a continually shifting contemporary environment, this body of work offers a timely opportunity for reflection on humanity’s influence on the natural world.

Whitney Bedford (b. 1976 in Baltimore, MD) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California in Los Angeles, CA.

Bedford has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Art: Concept, Paris, France; Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA; Starkwhite Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, NY and Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, among others.

Her work has been included in group exhibitions at international institutions including the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA; Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA; Galerie de l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Quimper, France; Hôtel de Ville, Pont-Aven, France; The Jewish Museum, New York, NY; Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA.

Her work is included in the collections of Eric Decelle, Brussels, Belgium; Francois Pinault Collection, Paris, France; Ginette Moulin and Guillaume Houzé Contemporary Art Collection, Paris, France; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz Collection, Miami, FL; Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, among others.

She is the recipient of awards including the Pollock Krasner Award; New York, NY, UCLA D’Arcy Hayman Award, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; UCLA Hammer Museum Drawing Biennial Winner, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Fulbright Graduate Fellowship, Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, Germany; Karl-Hofer Gesellschaft Atelier, Künstlerwerkstatt Bahnhof Westend; and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Studentship, Venice, Italy.

Bedford lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Download PDF

Selected Works

Press Release