A deep look at a contemporary artist whose work highlights how the rise of technology and corporate capitalism have disrupted our lives and polarized society

One of the most thought-provoking artists of his generation, Josh Kline (b. 1979) creates installations, sculptures, videos, and photographs that address the ways new technologies affect how people live and work. Engaging with a range of concerns that impact the entire labor force, from essential workers to the creative class, Kline demonstrates how climate change, automation, disease, and politics have shaped our identities. At a time when so many aspects of life are under threat, Kline takes an unflinching look at how we got here and boldly imagines a more equitable and empathetic future. Kline’s art demonstrates the ways technology has widened and reinforced the gap of inequity in America, while also carrying the potential to make a fairer world. “As an artist who’s thinking about the consequences of technological innovation,” Kline has said, “I think there’s an obligation to raise questions about who benefits.” His ongoing cycle of installations (Freedom, 2014–16; Unemployment, 2015–16, Civil War, 2016–19; Climate Change, 2019– ) that imagine the next hundred years of society are featured in this book, along with his earlier bodies of work, Creative Labor (2009– ) and Blue Collars (2014– ) and production images and concept sketches for his newest works that are published here for the first time.

Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(April 19–August 13, 2023)

Contributions by: Nora N Khan, Ed Halter, Josh Kline, Laura Poitras