Founded in 1977, the New Museum is Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum, with a curatorial program known for its global scope and adventurousness. In its new building on the Bowery, the New Museum continues its mission of exploring new art and new ideas by launching a major triennial that
will give participating artists their first museum exposure. The initiative will be the first recurring international exhibition in New York City devoted to emerging artists from around the world, providing an important platform for
a new generation of artists who are shaping the current discourse of contemporary art and the future of global culture.

The first edition of this generational triennial  The Generational: Younger Than Jesus takes place from April 8 through June 14, 2009, and occupies the entire New Museum building on the Bowery. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the fact that some of the most enduring, influential, and radical changes in art and history have been carried out by young people. Focused on artists who are under the age of 33 years old, the exhibition is being organized by a team of New Museum curators including Lauren Cornell, Director of Rhizome and Adjunct Curator; Massimiliano Gioni, Director of Special Exhibitions; and Laura Hoptman, Kraus Family Senior Curator. The New Museum’s triennial exhibition aspires to capture the signals of an imminent generational change, exploring how artists belonging to the same age group can develop similar interests and express similar concerns across geographies and nationalities. Fifty artists from twenty-five countries are presented in the first edition.