Younger Than Jesus

Younger Than Jesus

Book

Celebrating the present and anticipating the future of contemporary art, Younger Than Jesus: Artist Directory introduces over 500 artists from around the globe aged under thirty-three. It was assembled by critics, artists and curators, assisted by the curatorial team at the New Museum in New York and features detailed profiles and more than 2,000 colour illustrations of artworks. The publication captures an imminent generational change in art.

The challenge was to unite over 500 artists and their varying practices in a fresh and unexpected way. The design concept developed from the need to create a well-functioning directory, taking the Yellow Pages as a visual reference. All graphic and physical elements were borrowed from it to be re-interpreted. The book is typeset in Bell Centennial, a typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1970s for telecommunications company AT&T for its telephone directories, which is still in use. The book is printed on rough newsprint, making for a very light, thick and floppy object. The cover features A to Z of all artists featured inside. Each letter of the alphabet is different, reflecting the diversity of the work. Inside, large letters open each section, and outside they all dance on one long cover that wraps around the book block.

Publisher: New Museum, Phaidon
Contributors:  Massimiliano Gioni , Lauren Cornell and Laura Hoptman

2009