Whitney Museum's 'artport: A History of Internet Art' Marks 25 Years of Net Art
The Facts
The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced 'artport: A History of Internet Art,' an exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of its online gallery space for net art commissions, which launched in 2001. The exhibition, opening November 21, 2026, features more than 100 works commissioned specifically for artport, spanning three commissioning categories: Gate Pages (2001–2006), main Commissions (ongoing since 2001), and the Sunrise/Sunset series (2009–2024) along with its successor, On the Hour. The gallery presentation on the museum's 6th Floor uses an open floor plan to evoke floating browser windows, bringing online art into physical space. The exhibition includes the world premiere of 'Human Unreadable Act III' by the artist duo Operator, a live performance examining the body, ambition, and technology, taking place in the Whitney's Susan and John Hess Family Theater on November 19, 21, and 22, 2026.
The Signal
The exhibition, organized by Christiane Paul, Curator of Digital Art, with David Lisbon and Colin Brooks, traces the evolution of net art over a quarter century, showcasing works that engage with code, data visualization, nonlinear narrative, worldbuilding, gaming environments, and AI-driven art. By presenting over 100 commissions from artport's history, the Whitney underscores its institutional commitment to digital art as a legitimate and evolving medium, offering collectors and curators a rare survey of how artists have used the internet as both site and medium. The inclusion of a live performance by Operator signals a growing trend of museums integrating performative digital works into exhibition programming, potentially influencing how institutions value and collect net art.
- Artists: Operator
- People: Christiane Paul, David Lisbon, Colin Brooks
- Museums: Whitney Museum of American Art
- Locations: New York
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