"Time of Our Lives"
1999-07-15 until 1999-10-17
New Museum
New York, NY, USA United States of America

Today people are living longer, staying active, healthy and mentally alert well into old age. As the percentage of Americans who are 65 and older continues to grow faster than any other demographic group, the work of age theorists plays an increasingly important role in shaping public perception and public policy about age and ageism. The Time of Our Lives explores and critiques the social construction of age and aging through works in a wide range of visual media. Organized by Founding Director Marcia Tucker with Curatorial Associate Anne Ellegood, the exhibition includes works by more than sixty artists, with over thirty film, video, and television programs and advertisements, live performances, music, and three interactive projects created by high school students and artists participating in the Museum's Visible Knowledge Program.

Using a remarkable variety of techniques and strategies, the artists in The Time of Our Lives examine such pertinent topics as the invisibility of the aging body (Jacqueline Hayden, Suzanne Lacy, Jeff Wall); sexuality among elders (Heddy Honigmann, Keiko Ibi, Cindy Sherman, Yvonne Rainer); attempts to mask the physical signs of aging (Rachel Lachowicz, Johnny Symons); the differences in attitudes toward the elderly across cultures (Arlene Bowman, Cho Duck Hyun, Yoshiko Kanai), and inter-generational relationships (Alan Berliner, Consuelo Castaneda, Susan Unterberg). Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue published by the New Museum, which includes essays by Marcia Tucker, Anne Barlow and Xochitl Dorsey, Anne Ellegood, Philip Koplin, and Anja Zimmermann. The Time of Our Lives is made possible by generous grants from The Leonard and Susan Bay Nimoy Family Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Penny McCall Foundation. The Visible Knowledge Program is made possible by generous grants from the Albert A. List Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Consolidated Edison. Additional support is provided by the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for the Visible Knowledge Program. Teacher training programs are made possible by The Chase Manhattan Teachers Workshop Fund at the New Museum. Photo (top left): Jacqueline Hayden, Untitled from Figure Model series, 1996. Unique silver gelatin print, 82 x 52, Courtesy of the artist and Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston. © 1996 Jacqueline Hayden. This image may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the New Museum of Contemporary Art.

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