According to the exhibition organizers, American art underwent a crisis at the end of the ’80s, but a younger generation, drawn to narrative, fiction, and fantasy, has risen out of the ashes. The Barbican’s largest gathering of contemporary art to date, this show, curated by the institution’s Mark Sladen, brings together some thirty New York and Los Angeles phoenixes, including Erik Parker, Sarah Sze, and Jeff Burton. If it’s true, as the Barbican aims to demonstrate, that this group has carved out a distinct generational identity while avoiding the superficial posturing of the YBAs, well then, that’s an achievement.

— Daniel Birnbaum