As the sun set in Manhattan’s meatpacking district on Monday evening, the Whitney Museum of American Art swelled with crowds for the opening of the 81st Whitney Biennial. This year’s show, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” contends with questions of what is “real” through works about the rise of artificial intelligence, the fluidity of gender and the fragility of nature.
Critics and gallerists brushed past the filmmaker Darren Aronofsky while he studied a series of sculptural figures by Rose B. Simpson.
“I read the museum’s text on the wall explaining it, and I like this year’s theme,” Mr. Aronofsky said. “Everyone is thinking about the same things in the world right now, so I like the idea of considering our current reality through art.”
On the ground level, a D.J. played Latin dance hits to crowds of art world figures who sipped Paloma cocktails and traded industry gossip. The museum’s stairwells were packed with guests navigating the building’s floors to reach works by Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Pippa Garner, Holland Andrews, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio and JJJJJerome Ellis, whose art (and name) probes the condition of stuttering.
On the fifth floor, David Byrne — who wore white pants, white sneakers and a white jacket — gazed at a sculpture by Jes Fan. RoseLee Goldberg, the curator and art historian, admired an installation by Dala Nasser. The show’s co-curators, Meg Onli and Chrissie Iles, warmly greeted artists.
