Quick Facts
Biography
Brian Andrew Whiteley (born 1983) is a visual artist and curator based in New York City.
Work
Whiteley's artistic practice incorporates various mediums including sculpture, video, and new media. Working primarily as an investigatory performance artist, he is best known for his large-scale, interactive projects meant to manipulate media outlets through incitement and provocation. His specific series have delved into pop culture, product marketing, sexual fetishes, relationship identifiers, film satire, gender roles, and cultural stereotypes.
Trump Tombstone
In 2016, Whiteley gained public notoriety through his controversial and widely publicized Trump Tombstone.
The 500-pound gravestone dedicated to Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump was originally uncovered in the early hours of Easter Sunday in New York City's Central Park. The stone read "Made America Hate Again" and listed Trump, Donald J in sharp letters. Although it was taken down in a matter of hours, the work sparked a media circus and criminal investigation. While images of the work circulated on social media and police searched for the culprit, the artist remained at large for nearly two months taunting investigators with anonymous televised and published interviews affirming the work as parody in opposition to the Trump campaign.
After an extensive investigation by the Secret Service and the NYPD, Whiteley was revealed as the creator of the Trump Tombstone.
The Tombstone received considerable press coverage.
Clowns and Bigfoot
In 2013, Whiteley began an on-going series of public performances, sculptures, and installations that comment on American pop culture phenomena through various characters such as clowns and Bigfoot. Through these various personas, Whiteley explored how the media substantiates works of art and how far can he can push them on coverage.
Whiteley has been credited as the originator of the widespread 2016 Clown Sightings in the United States.
Art fairs
Whiteley is the founder of Miami's annual SATELLITE Art Show.
Selected press
- Anna Merlan, "Some Jerk Is Dressing Up Like a Clown And Roaming Around Green-Wood Cemetery", Village Voice, 2014.
- Kristin Iversen, "This Terrifying Clown Terrifying Green-Wood Cemetery? Is Definitely a Hoax", Brooklyn Magazine, 2014.
- Doyle Murphy, "Creepy clown ‘haunts’ Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery", NY Daily News, 2014.
- Lauren Evans, "Go Home, Clown Wandering Green-Wood Cemetery", Gothamist, 2014.
- Caroline Bankoff, "Clown Haunts Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery", New York Magazine, 2014.
- Noah Hurowitz, "Expert: ‘Sasquatch’ video ‘too good to be true", Brooklyn Paper, January 2015.
- Lee Speigel, "What's That Strolling Through Brooklyn's Prospect Park? Bigfoot Or A Big Faker?", Huffington Post, February 2015.
- Joe Borlick, "Man claims to have video of ‘Bigfoot’ walking through park in New York City", FOX News, February 2015.
- Stephanie Webber, "Donald Trump Tombstone Mysteriously Shows Up in NYC's Central Park", US Magazine, March 2016.
- Eliza Collins, "Trump tombstone removed from Central Park", Politico, March 2016.
- Claire Voon, "Donald Trump Tombstone Appears, and Swiftly Disappears, in Central Park", Hyperallergic, March 2016.
- Bucky Turco, "There's a Fake Donald Trump Tombstone in Central Park and It's Not Even Good Art. Sad!", Daily Beast, March 2016.
- Lee Stranahan, "Donald Trump Tombstone Appears in Central Park as Online Threats Continue", Breitbart, March 2016.
- Meghan Keneally, "Trump Tombstone Found in Central Park", ABC News, March 2016.
- Joe DeLessio, "The NYPD Has Solved the Mystery of the Central Park Donald Trump Tombstone", New York Magazine, May 2016.
- Peter Wade, "The Artist Who Planted a Trump Tombstone in Central Park Explained Why He Did It", Esquire, April 2016.
- Michael Wilson, "Trump Headstone in Central Park: Mystery Solved" , New York Times, May 2016.
- Michal Addady, "Donald Trump's Tombstone Is on Display at a Brooklyn Gallery", Fortune, September 2016.
- Verena Dobnika, "‘Trump Tombstone' now on display at Brooklyn gallery", Associated Press, September 2016.
- Joe Dziemianowicz, Donald Trump 'Tombstone' by artist Brian Whiteley makes its gallery debut in Brooklyn, NY Daily News, September 2016.