The way Alice Neel rides the edge
of something primitive in her work, the physicalness
of her
process, her alternately agitated and mangy surfaces, her breathtaking brushstrokes, and the hypersensitive obsessiveness
of her portraits suggest Neel ranks among the
greatest American
painters of the 20th century and merits more than a floor
of the Whitney.
• Tony Smith (1912 — 1980), sculptor who bridged AbEx and minimalism (dad
of Kiki) Mel Kendrick (b. 1949), formalist
process - based sculptor Chris Wilmarth (1943 — 1987), sculptor
of steel, bronze, and etched glass Joel Shapiro (b. 1941), minimalist sculptor who flirts with figuration Christopher Wool (b. 1955), Neo-AbExer with a taste for graffiti and repetition Alex Hubbard (b. 1975), rising master
of painterly materials and abstract coloration Josh Smith (b. 1976), Factory - like
painter of great expressive volume Jacob Kassay (b. 1984), mirrored - painting - wunderkind - turned - sackcloth artist • Andy Warhol (1928 — 1987), Pop maestro and appropriationist world - changer David Robbins (b. 1957), artist and «Concrete Comedy» theorist David LaChapelle (b. 1963), lush photographer
of celebrity decadence Ronnie Cutrone (1948 — 2013), Factory personality and East Village cult figure George Condo (b. 1957), Neo-Picassian
painter of the grotesque Mark Dagley (b. 1957), Op abstractionist • Richard Serra (b. 1939), grand master
of process art and the post-industrial sublime Grégoire Müller (b. 1947),
painter of current - event appropriations Philip Glass (b. 1937), «Einstein on the Beach» composer Lawrence Chandler (b. 1951), composer, musician, and sound artist • Sol LeWitt (1928 — 2007), father
of conceptual art, multitasking artistic outsourcer Adrian Piper (b. 1948), performance art innovator Mark Williams (b. 1950), monochromatic minimalist
painter