Photo: Supplied
They’ve been dubbed ‘the MTV generation’ and the ‘Forgotten generation’ (though now they’re in power: ‘forgotten no more’ we say). They are Generation X: those born between 1965 and 1980.
The baby boomers came before them, the millennials after and the Gen Xers may still be getting used to it - but they are all now middle-aged.
Raised in an analogue world, Generation X were the first youth to have scientific calculators, video players, video games, CDs and finally computers.
So, brought together, what does the art they’ve made tell us?
Generation X is a City Gallery Wellington exhibition at Te Papa, and its curator Megan Dunn joins Culture 101 to discuss.
The exhibition features 50 artworks from one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant contemporary art collections, the Chartwell Collection. Started in 1974, the Chartwell is also Gen X, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
_ Liz Maw Satan 2003, oil on board and Andrew Barber The Sea 2013, enamel and acrylic paint. Photo: supplied
While the Chartwell’s collection principally focuses on Aotearoa New Zealand artists, there are a few key Gen X internationals in this show.
They include 90s YBA (Young British Artist) star Damien Hirst and Australian sculptor Patricia Piccinini. They join local work that ranges from the taxidermied bunnies and sparrows of Michael Parekowhai to the paintings of Seraphine Pick.
"It was with great fondness that I put together this exhibition," Dunn said.
"It was one of the first things I was luckily tasked with when I returned to my role at City Gallery Wellington and Experience Wellington - making a show to celebrate the Chartwell Collection's 50th anniversary.
"It's an amazing collection. There's over 2000 works in it."
Yuk King Tan Evolutionary Revolutionary 2006, tassels on mask. Courtesy Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery o Tāmaki, Photo: supplied
The artworks were made during the 1990s and early 2000s (the Gen X prime?), and City Gallery list the concerns these artists address as “ranging from globalisation, capitalism and the culture wars to identity politics, third-wave feminism, and the commodification of art schools.”
Generation X: 50 Artworks from the Chartwell Collection runs until 20 October.
Meanwhile, Megan Dunn’s third book The Mermaid Chronicles is out 13 August with Penguin. It follows Tinderbox and Things I Learned at Art School.
Jae Hoon Lee Feast 2007, mixed media and Jae Hoon Lee Ground Zero (Clouds) 2010, Single Channel Video, SD, 16:9. Photo: supplied
Read more on RNZ's Generation X series:
X-plainer: Who are Generation X?
X marks the spot: The forgotten generation remembers
Will Gen X ever be able to retire?
The Gen X-ers taking over Parliament, boardrooms and our biggest arts institutions
