The 2012 New Museum Triennial, which opens today, features thirty-four artists, artist
groups, and temporary collectives�totaling over fifty participants�born
between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, many of whom have never before
exhibited in the US. Called �The Ungovernables,� the exhibition is about “the urgencies of a generation
who came of age after the independence and revolutionary movements of
the 1960s and 1970s. Through both materials and form, works included explore impermanence and an engagement with the
present and future…” so naturally painting is in short supply. HOWEVER: British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, a portrait painter who had a 2010 show at Jack Shainman, has work in the show.
The subjects of Yiadom-Boakye�s portraits are mostly black and often confrontational. In her Shainman exhibition, the expressionistic brush strokes, combined with a dark palette, evoked a stark, theatrical mood. �Although they are not real I think of them as people known to me.” Yiadom-Byakye explained. “They are imbued with a power of their own; they have a resonance � something emphatic and other-worldly. I admire them for the strength of their moral fiber. If they are pathetic, they don�t survive; if I feel sorry for someone, I get rid of them. I don�t like to paint victims.�
“The 2012 New Museum Triennial: The Ungovernables,” curated by Eungie Joo, New Museum, New York, NY. Through April 22, 2012.
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