The generational: Younger than Jesus - Triennial at New Museum – New York

The New Museum of New York presents “The Generational”, the institution’s new signature triennial exhibition, which will display until June 14th fifty artists from twenty-five countries only born after 76.  To examine the visual culture this generation has created, see the differences and the links we could find between young artists living in various countries and cultures and to discover new artists, those are the important points of this new triennial.




Because the most influential and enduring gestures in art are made in the early stages of our lives, the new museum decided to explore this new generation through all media: paintings, drawings, photography, film, animation, performances, installation, dance, even internet based works and video games.

In order to select only 50 artists, who should be representatives of the new generation, the new museum decided to explore an new way of curating, using methods and tools of nowadays : instead of giving the power of choice to one unique person, an initial research for the exhibition was conducted through an international network of correspondents, and an information-sharing group of more than 150 curators, writers, teachers, artists, critics, bloggers worldwide, who were asked to recommend artists.

According to Lauren Cornell, “The exhibition presents glimpses of a generation that is incredibly diverse, with artists moving seamlessly across mediums. Instead of radically breaking from the past, these artists draw from a myriad of influences across historical movements and geographies to highlight the intergenerational dynamics that drive contemporary art.”

“During World War II, both Pablo Picasso and Giorgio Morandi were painting still lifes,” explains Laura Hoptman. “Two artists, belonging to the same generation, were imagining two absolutely different realities emerging from a chaos that encompassed the entire world. We hope that ‘Younger Than Jesus’ will offer a look at our world as reflected through the work of many artists belonging to the same time and yet representing entirely different perspectives on its problems and its beauties.”

The exhibition catalogue, co-published by the New Museum and Steidl, will include reproductions of the work of the fifty artists chosen for the exhibition, as well as original essays by the exhibition curators and an anthology of articles by a diverse group of writers including philosophers, sociologists, journalists, activists, and marketing and technology experts. It is intended to compose a complex picture of the art and preoccupations that animate the work of this emerging generation.

Freshness, impulsiveness, high potency, it is a great pleasure to span this new generation of artists, and we can be proud to belong to this one. The power of expression and the intelligence developed through the works exposed is incredible.

Artists presented : Aids-3D, Nik Kosma, Ziad Antar, Cory Arcangel , Tauba Auerbach,  Wojciech Bakowsky, Dineo Seshee bopape, Mohamed bourouissa, Kerstin Brätsch, Cao Fei, Carolina Caycedo, Chu Yun, Keren Cytter, Mariechen Danz, Faye Driscoli, Ida Ekblad, Haris Epaminonda, Patricia Esquivias, Mark Essen, Ruth Ewan, Brendan Fowler, Luke Fowler, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Cypien Gaillard, Ryan Gander, Liz Glynn, Loris Gréaud, Shilipa Gupta, Emre Hüner, Matt Keagan, Tigran Khachatryan, Kitty Kraus, Adrians Lara, Elas Lasery, Lui Chang, Guthrue Lonergan, Taia Madani, Anna Molska, Ciprian Muresan, Ahmet Ogut, Adam Pendieton, Stephen G. Rodhes, James Richards, Emily Roysdon, Katerina Seda, Josh Smith, Ryan Trecartin, Alexander Ugay, Tris Vonna-Michell, Jakub Julian Ziolkowski, Icaro Zorbar,


[Visuals : Shilpa Gupta, Untitled, 2006. Photograph printed on Flex]