Heidi Whitman In-Gallery Artist Talk

Join artist Heidi Whitman for an in-gallery talk about her installation Ahab’s Head: American Vengeance, on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum through May 3^rd, 2026.  

In Ahab’s Head: American Vengeance, a new installation work created for the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Whitman seeks to capture Ahab’s madness and the ominous feeling of dread and inevitable violence that pervades the novel. In this work, Whitman encourages visitors to reflect on how these themes are also mirrored in American society. Hanging sculptural forms made from rope and fabric cast shadows on wall-drawn charts depicting fictitious whaling voyages. Two giant assemblages, one inspired by Ahab and Moby-Dick and the other of the destruction of the ship, the Pequod. Together with a newly created soundscape and weaponry from the Museum collection, Ahab’s Head places visitors at the center of Ahab’s obsession and offer a meditation on violence in the world of Moby-Dick and beyond. The exhibition is on view through May 3, 2026.