In April 2009, the New Museum inaugurated an ongoing series of major triennials devoted to presenting works by early-career artists from around the world, and providing an important platform for a new generation of artists who shape the current discourse of contemporary art.

The first in the series, “The Generational Triennial: Younger Than Jesus,” contextualized the different artistic approaches of a generation of artists born after 1976, and identified emergent stylistic trends. Three years later, “The Ungovernables: 2012 New Museum Triennial,” continued to explore the concept of what an international exhibition of emerging artists could be, focusing on formal, philosophical, material and ideological urgencies of the generation born between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, and the resourcefulness asserted in those artists’ work. “2015 Triennial: Surround Audience” encompassed a variety of artistic practices, including sound, dance, comedy, poetry, installation, sculpture, painting, and video, among others, and considered how artists depict subjectivity, unpack complex systems of power, and claim sites of artistic agency.