What About Age?
An Exhibition on the Impact of Ageism in Contemporary Society
I’m so excited to finally tell you all about this project I’ve been working on for the last two years (!).
WHAT ABOUT AGE is an exhibition on the impact of ageism in society. Featuring comics by yours truly, it’s a large-scale public art installation viewable in the Kimmel Windows gallery in Greenwich Village from now until March 20, 2025.
If you’re in NYC between now and then, you can view it (for free!) by walking past the windows, located across from Washington Square Park along LaGuardia Place and West 3rd Street.
With the exhibition, we’re hoping to open people’s eyes to the ageism that permeates our world and colors people’s interactions (young or old!) at work, at the doctor’s office, at home, on social media, and everywhere else. We also offer a call to action on how we, as individuals, can help dismantle structural ageism in our environments.
“The exhibition examines ageism, a pervasive form of discrimination that affects everyone and consists of our stereotypes, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors towards ourselves and others based on age. It explores the structural aspects of ageism, such as how American laws, policies, and culture aid rather than diminish it, as well as the healthcare costs associated with it, and how the media shapes attitudes toward age. A central question is why society primarily focuses on what is lost with age rather than what is gained.”
I had the pleasure of working with some amazing people to create this exhibit! The project was conceived of and curated by Dr. Stacey Gordon, and the exhibition design was done by NYU’s public art curator, Pamela Jean Tinnen. This project received significant input from a diverse group of NYU community members.
If you get a chance to check it out, please let me know what you think. And send me a selfie!
In other Aubrey Hirsch news, I have a new comic at Vox today about the negative effects of abortion bans on miscarriage care. This was one of those comics where the more research I did, the angrier I became, so be sure to have an emotional support beverage nearby when you read it.
And my comic about becoming about learning how to say “no” to doctors is over at Crucial Comix, a brand-new cartoonist-run small press that publishes narrative nonfiction comics and offers compelling classes on comics-making and practice. It’s run by some of my favorite comics people, so you should definitely check it out!
Thanks again for your support!
Holy crow. I just read part of the VOX article. Need to take break. Thank you so much for sharing your skill and dedication to 'tough' subjects. People need to know this stuff. All of it.
Thank you.
This is a great project! Congratulations and I hope that it can begin some serious conversations and shift the focus from what's lost to what's gained with age, as you mentinoned.