Generation 1.5

by Valerie Smith, Tom Finkelpearl, Kiran Desai

In an increasingly globalized cultural landscape, artists are often asked to represent their "home" country. But what if identifying home is a complex matter? The Queens Museum of Art organized the exhibition Generation 1.5 with this sort of ambiguity of origin in mind. With a title taking its name from the Korean-American phrase describing people who moved to a new country between the ages of 12 and 18, Generation 1.5 featured eight artists who made this transition--Ellen Harvey, Pablo Helguera, Emily Jacir, Lee Mingwei, Shirin Neshat, Seher Shah, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Nari Ward. This volume examines Generation 1.5 and the featured artists through interviews and essays that address cultural representation, cosmopolitanism, personal expression, alienation, the pain of transition, immigration, exile, and the complexity and limitations of identity politics. With essays and interviews by Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai, Pulitzer Prize finalist Suketu Mehta plus noted sociologists, artists, writers and curators.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2009

About the author

Valerie Smith is an American academic administrator, professor, and scholar of African-American literature and culture. She is the 15th and current president of Swarthmore College. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she is a graduate of Bates College and the University of Virginia.