The
Museum Gazetteer 
The New Museum spotlights emerging artists from around the world
with the exhibit "Younger than Jesus"
The New Museum, a freshly renovated, trendy museum
of the Lower East Side, is presenting the exhibit "The Generational:
Younger Than Jesus" until June 14, 2009. Fifty contemporary
artists are being presented from all over the world with a single
unifying theme: born in the 80's, they are all younger then Jesus
when he died. (That is estimated to be age 33.)
This multidisciplinary group exhibit spread on four
floors of the New Museum, presents works on a variety of different
media, including drawings, video, installations and photography.
Every single corridor and staircase abounds with fabulous artwork
to discover.
 |
| Installation
by Chu-Yun at the New Museum for "The generational Younger
than Jesus." Photo by the New Museum. |
The messages expressed by these young people are strong
and very passionate. They seem to be in rebellion against the world,
consumerism, and the virtual world. They are dealing with politics,
wars, international relations and the economy.
In a world were people do too much, an installation
in the middle of the gallery by Chu-Yun (from China) gives us a
real young woman sleeping deeply in a white bed. It is surprising
and interesting.
 |
Mohammed
Bourouissa, La fenêtre, 2005
Lamda print mounted on aluminum. Photo by the New Museum. |
Mohamed Bourrouissa, a French-Algerian, sensitively
explores the rapport de force between people in French
suburbs, while the American artist Guthrie Lonegan presents videos
from MySpace of unknown people introducing themselves.
The work of Cyprien Gaillard from Paris deals with
the impact of humans on nature. In a spectacular video, he shows
the demolition of subsidized housing in Europe.
Ciprian Muresan, from Romania, explores our society's
big issues through very funny videos.
 |
| Installation
by Liu Chang "Buying everything on you" at the New
Museum for the exhibit "The Generational: Younger Than
Jesus." Photo by Suzanne Trouve Feff. |
Lastly, in an original idea, Liu Chang from China
approaches people in the street, offering to buy everything they
are wearing and lays the lot of it out on a table. I wondered how
much he paid. Anyway, you can admire the socks and knickers of a
young Asian girl and the contents of the wallet of a student.
This is a nice initiative for the New Museum; it brings
out a new and fresh look on art.
Those young artists bode well for our artistic future. It just goes
to show that you can be younger than Jesus and very talented too.
[Suzanne Trouve Feff]
