The Way We Live Now

The George Economou Collection is pleased to announce The Way We Live Now, its first contemporary group exhibition, with works culled solely from its holdings and the first of its kind within the exhibition program.

In 1875, the English novelist Anthony Trollope published The Way We Live Now, his devastating look at the transfiguring effect of power during the industrial age. A little over one hundred and fifty years later, artists, curators, and writers continue to mine the real world in all its complexity, including the effects finance, industry, and desire have not only on artistic consciousness, but the viewer's understanding of what is being represented, and why.

In this group exhibition, the artists invite us, with their unique sensibilities, to observe how they have been informed, if not shaped, by “the way we live now”—as political creatures, as humans longing for intimacy, as observers in and of the world that has made us.

Divided into three loose sections—Intimacy, Politics, and Being—The Way We Live Now is a kind of travelogue. It begins with the ways artists convey the soulful and impressionistic, exploring how love and the romantic impulse contribute to the artist's understanding of Intimacy. What are we talking about when we talk about love? 

We also look at the vulnerable body as it moves in and through a world framed by Politics. Who are we as individuals, as members of society? And what does it mean to be led, or have freedom of choice? Does a questioning spirit make one free? And how does the artist define freedom in today’s divided world?

Finally, we consider Being—our collective and individual existence—with a critical, mordant, and lyrical eye. The artists included in that grouping explore energy as it affects or is generated by the female form or the naked body, while they create sculptural figures that look deeply into the joys as well as struggles of being together or existing in poignant isolation. So doing, we are also looking at the intimacy the artist demands and imparts to their subject.

The Way We Live Now is co-curated by Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, educator, and contributing writer at The New Yorker; Ann Philbin, director emeritus of the Hammer Museum and 2025 Getty Prize Winner; in close collaboration with Skarlet Smatana, the director of the George Economou Collection.

A publication with contributions by Hilton Als, Lisa Brice, Heather Ive, Ben Okri and Charles Ray will accompany the exhibition.

Full image credits
Clockwise, from top center: Victor Man, Girl with Goya’s Skull (Memorable Equinox), 2022. Oil on canvas, 70 × 50 cm (framed: 74.8 × 54.6 cm). © Victor Man. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone., ARS NY/ OSDEETE, Athens 2026. Unframed photography by Stefan Korte. Framed photography by Andrea Rossetti. David Hammons, Rock Head, 1998. Rock, human hair, 31.8 × 33 × 24.1 cm. © David Hammons. Courtesy of the artist. ARS NY/ OSDEETE, Athens 2026. Lisa Brice, After Embah, 2018. Synthetic tempera, gesso, and ink on canvas, 244 × 205 cm. © Lisa Brice. Courtesy of the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Mark Blower. Mohammed Sami, Every Day Is Ashura, 2020. Acrylic on linen, 90 × 185 cm. © Mohammed Sami. Courtesy of the artist and Modern Art. Henry Taylor, It’s H.I.M, 2012. Acrylic on canvas, 213.4 × 182.9 cm. © Henry Taylor. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Xinyi Cheng, Legend of the Mountain, 2022. Oil on linen, 145 × 160 cm. © Xinyi Cheng. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Charles Ray, Shoe Tie, 2012. Solid stainless steel, 73 × 74 × 60 cm. © Charles Ray. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Andy Robert, Aiyana (Flower Arrangement), 2015. Oil on canvas, 183 × 152.5 cm. © Andy Robert. Courtesy Veneklasen. Lorna Simpson, Detroit (Ode to G.), 2016. India ink, acrylic, and screenprint on Claybord, 274.3 × 243.8 cm. © Lorna Simpson. Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Salon 94. Jenny Saville, Intertwine, 2011–2014. Oil on canvas, 219.5 × 290 × 6.5 cm. © Jenny Saville. All rights reserved, DACS, London / OSDEETE, Athens 2026. Courtesy Gagosian. Photo: Mike Bruce. Katharina Fritsch, Zwei Männer / Two Men, 2019. Polyester, paint, 179 × 89 × 39 cm. © Katharina Fritsch, VG Bild‑Kunst, Bonn / OSDEETE, Athens 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery. Lucas Arruda, Untitled (from the Deserto‑Modelo series), 2020. Oil on canvas, 30 × 30 cm. © Lucas Arruda. Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner. Florian Krewer, wild side, 2023. Oil on linen, 279.5 × 299.5 cm. © Florian Krewer. Courtesy Veneklasen. Allison Katz, S.O.S, 2019. Oil, acrylic, and rice on canvas, 225 × 170 × 4 cm. © Allison Katz. Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Roundabout, 2025. Acrylic, oil, and graphite on wood panel, 61 × 50.8 cm. © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Ellen Gallagher, Fast‑Fish and Loose‑Fish, 2023. Oil, pigment, palladium, and paper on canvas, 295.9 × 201.9 cm. © Ellen Gallagher. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.