My daughter and her boyfriend on a recent visit to the New Museum—two “millennials,” as the new show calls their generation
Today is likely to be a non-posting day (except for this hasty entry), because I’m attending the press preview of the New Museum’s Younger Than Jesus (“The Generational”). After that, I’m attending my own “generational”—my father’s 95th birthday!
I’m really excited about this preview, because our invitation says this:
The 24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project, a performance by artist Liz Glynn, will begin on April 6, and continue during this press event….During the preview you will experience the Reign of Caligula, marked by
orgiastic feasting, musical performances, and ritual ablutions.
Okay, I’ll skip my breakfast, the better to enjoy “orgiastic feasting.” Should I also skip my shower in anticipation of “ablutions”? I’ll be so disappointed if this performance is non-participatory!
The “Younger Than Jesus” generation (although you’ll never catch this Jew calling them that) is my own children’s generation, so I’ll be interested to see if I gain some new insights here into their “sociological demographic.” (More interesting might be prowling the galleries together with them.) I was glad to learn from director of special exhibitions Massimiliano Gioni that these young adults are not “foreswearing their parents” (even though we sometimes snap their photos without their knowledge).
From the press materials, the show doesn’t seem quite as “international” as it purports to be. Some 20 of the 50 artists were born in and/or live in the U.S. Aren’t those the folks we see every two years at the Whitney? And if you look at the helpful map, you’ll see that parts of the world outside the U.S., Europe and the Middle East are barely (if at all) represented. What, no interesting artists could be found who were born in Canada, Russia, Australia? (The two artists they found from Africa no longer live there.)